1144 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) 

This rulemaking does not involve 

technical standards. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

The EPA believes the human health or 

environmental risk addressed by this 

action will not have potential 

disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects 

on minority, low-income or indigenous 

populations. This action is not subject 

to Executive Order 12898 because it 

disapproves state permitting provisions 

that are inconsistent with federal laws 

for the regulation and permitting of 

GHG emissions. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 

Particulate matter, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur 

oxides, Volatile organic compounds. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: December 17, 2015. 

Ron Curry, 

Regional Administrator, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2015–33098 Filed 1–8–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2013–0084; FRL–9940–88– 

Region 4] 

Air Plan Approval and Air Quality 

Designation; GA; Redesignation of the 

Atlanta, GA, 1997 Annual PM2.5

Nonattainment Area to Attainment 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: On August 30, 2012, the 

Georgia Department of Natural 

Resources, through the Georgia 

Environmental Protection Division (GA 

EPD), submitted a request for the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

to redesignate the Atlanta, Georgia, fine 

particulate matter (PM2.5) nonattainment 

area (hereafter referred to as the 

‘‘Atlanta Area’’ or ‘‘Area’’) to attainment 

for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 national 

ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) 

and to approve a state implementation 

plan (SIP) revision containing a 

maintenance plan for the Atlanta Area. 

EPA is proposing to determine that the 

Atlanta Area is continuing to attain the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS; to approve 

Georgia’s plan for maintaining the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS in the Atlanta 

Area (maintenance plan), including the 

associated motor vehicle emission 

budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides 

(NOX) and PM2.5 for the year 2024, into 

Georgia’s SIP; and to redesignate the 

Atlanta Area to attainment for the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is also 

notifying the public of the status of 

EPA’s adequacy determination for the 

Atlanta Area. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before February 1, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04– 

OAR–2013–0084, by one of the 

following methods: 

1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: R4-ARMS@epa.gov. 

3. Fax: (404) 562–9019. 

4. Mail: EPA–R04–OAR–2013–0084, 

Air Regulatory Management Section, Air 

Planning and Implementation Branch, 

Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management 

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street 

SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 

5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Ms. 

Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. Such 

deliveries are only accepted during the 

Regional Office’s normal hours of 

operation. The Regional Office’s official 

hours of business are Monday through 

Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding 

Federal holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R04–OAR–2013– 

0084. EPA policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit through 

www.regulations.gov or email, 

information that you consider to be CBI 

or otherwise protected. The 

www.regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an email comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

www.regulations.gov, your email 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http://

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: All documents in the 

electronic docket are listed in the 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information 

may not be publicly available, i.e., CBI 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the Internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in www.regulations.gov or 

in hard copy at the Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. EPA 

requests that if at all possible, you 

contact the person listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

schedule your inspection. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., excluding Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel 

Huey, Air Planning and Implementation 

Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 

Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. Joel Huey 

may be reached by phone at (404) 562– 

9104 or via electronic mail at huey.joel@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. What are the actions EPA is proposing to 

take? 

II. What is the background for EPA’s 

proposed actions? 

III. What are the criteria for redesignation? 

IV. Why is EPA proposing these actions? 


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1As discussed in section V below, this proposed 

determination is also based on EPA’s December 8, 

2011, determination that the Atlanta Area was 

attaining the standard at that time. 76 FR 76620. 

2Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, refers to 

airborne particles less than or equal to 2.5 

micrometers in diameter. Although treated as a 

single pollutant, fine particles come from many 

different sources and are composed of many 

different compounds. In the Atlanta Area, one of 

the largest components of PM2.5 is sulfate, which is 

formed through various chemical reactions from the 

precursor SO2. The other major component of PM2.5

is organic carbon, which originates predominantly 

from biogenic emission sources. Nitrate, which is 

formed from the precursor NOX, is also a 

component of PM2.5. Crustal materials from 

windblown dust and elemental carbon from 

combustion sources are less significant contributors 

to total PM2.5. VOCs, also precursors for PM, are 

emitted from a variety of sources, including motor 

vehicles, chemical plants, refineries, factories, 

consumer and commercial products, and other 

industrial sources. VOCs also are emitted by natural 

sources such as vegetation. 

3 In response to legal challenges of the annual 

standard promulgated in 2006, the United States 

Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 

Circuit (D.C. Circuit) remanded that NAAQS to EPA 

for further consideration. See American Farm 

Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers 

Council, et al. v. EPA, 559 F.3d 512 (D.C. Cir. 2009). 

However, given that the 1997 and 2006 Annual 

NAAQS are essentially identical, attainment of the 

1997 Annual NAAQS would also indicate 

attainment of the remanded 2006 Annual NAAQS. 

V. What is EPA’s analysis of the request? 

VI. What is the effect of the January 4, 2013, 

D.C. Circuit decision regarding PM2.5

implementation under subpart 4? 

VII. What is EPA’s analysis of Georgia’s 

proposed NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs for the 

Atlanta Area? 

VIII. What is the status of EPA’s adequacy 

determination for the proposed NOX and 

PM2.5 MVEBs for 2024 for the Atlanta 

area? 

IX. Proposed Actions on the Redesignation 

Request and Maintenance Plan SIP 

Revisions Including Approval of the 

NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs for 2024 for the 

Atlanta Area. 

X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What are the actions EPA is 

proposing to take? 

EPA is proposing to take the following 

three separate but related actions, one of 

which involves multiple elements: (1) 

To determine that the Atlanta Area is 

continuing to attain the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS; (2) to approve Georgia’s 

plan for maintaining the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS for the Atlanta Area 

(maintenance plan), including the 

associated MVEBs, into Georgia SIP; and 

(3) to redesignate the Atlanta Area to 

attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS. EPA is also notifying the 

public of the status of EPA’s adequacy 

determination for the MVEBs for the 

Atlanta Area. The Atlanta Area is 

comprised of twenty whole counties 

and two partial counties in Georgia: 

Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, 

Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, 

Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, 

Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Newton, 

Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding, Walton, 

and portions of Heard and Putnam 

Counties. Today’s proposed actions are 

summarized below and described in 

great detail in this notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

EPA is making the preliminary 

determination that the Atlanta Area is 

continuing to attain the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS based on recent air 

quality data 1 and proposing to approve 

Georgia’s 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS 

maintenance plan for the Atlanta Area 

(such approval being one of the Clean 

Air Act (CAA or Act) criteria for 

redesignation to attainment status). The 

maintenance plan is designed to help 

keep the Atlanta Area in attainment for 

the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS through 

2024. As explained in Section V below, 

EPA is also proposing to determine that 

attainment can be maintained through 

2025. The maintenance plan that EPA is 

proposing to approve today includes onroad MVEBs for the mobile source 

contribution of NOX and direct PM2.5 to 

the air quality problem in the Atlanta 

Area for transportation conformity 

purposes. EPA is proposing to approve 

the 2024 MVEBs for NOX and PM2.5 for 

the Atlanta Area and incorporate them 

in to the Georgia SIP. 

EPA also proposes to determine that 

the Atlanta Area has met the 

requirements for redesignation under 

section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA. 

Accordingly, in this action, EPA is 

proposing to approve a request to 

change the legal designation of the 

Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, 

Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, 

Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, 

Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Newton, 

Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding, Walton, 

and portions of Heard and Putnam 

Counties in Georgia from nonattainment 

to attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS. 

EPA is also notifying the public of the 

status of EPA’s adequacy process for the 

2024 NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs for the 

Atlanta Area. The Adequacy comment 

period began on February 21, 2013, with 

EPA’s posting of the availability of 

Georgia’s submission on EPA’s 

Adequacy Web site (http://

www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/

transconf/currsips.htm#atlanta0221). 

The Adequacy comment period for 

these MVEBs closed on March 25, 2013. 

No comments, adverse or otherwise, 

were received through the Adequacy 

process. Please see section VIII of this 

proposed rulemaking for further 

explanation of this process and for more 

details on the MVEBs. 

In summary, today’s notice of 

proposed rulemaking is in response to 

Georgia’s August 30, 2012, 

redesignation request and associated SIP 

submission that address the specific 

issues summarized above and the 

necessary elements for redesignation 

described in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the 

CAA. 

II. What is the background for EPA’s 

proposed actions? 

Fine particle pollution can be emitted 

directly or formed secondarily in the 

atmosphere.2 The main precursors of 

secondary PM2.5 are sulfur dioxide 

(SO2), NOX, ammonia, and volatile 

organic compounds (VOC). See 72 FR 

20586, 20589 (April 25, 2007). Sulfates 

are a type of secondary particle formed 

from SO2 emissions of power plants and 

industrial facilities. Nitrates, another 

common type of secondary particle, are 

formed from NOX emissions of power 

plants, automobiles, and other 

combustion sources. 

On July 18, 1997, EPA promulgated 

the first air quality standards for PM2.5. 

EPA promulgated an annual standard at 

a level of 15 micrograms per cubic meter 

(mg/m3), based on a 3-year average of 

annual mean PM2.5 concentrations. In 

the same rulemaking, EPA promulgated 

a 24-hour standard of 65 mg/m3, based 

on a 3-year average of the 98th 

percentile of 24-hour concentrations. On 

October 17, 2006, EPA retained the 

annual average NAAQS at 15 mg/m3 but 

revised the 24-hour NAAQS to 35 mg/

m3, based again on the 3-year average of 

the 98th percentile of 24-hour 

concentrations.3 See 71 FR 61144. Under 

EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 

primary and secondary 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS are attained when the 

annual arithmetic mean concentration, 

as determined in accordance with 40 

CFR part 50, Appendix N, is less than 

or equal to 15.0 mg/m3 at all relevant 

monitoring sites in the subject area 

averaged over a 3-year period. 

On January 5, 2005, and 

supplemented on April 14, 2005, EPA 

designated the Atlanta Area as 

nonattainment for the 1997 PM2.5

NAAQS. See 70 FR 944 and 70 FR 

19844, respectively. On November 13, 

2009, EPA promulgated designations for 

the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS established 

in 2006 and designated all counties of 

the Atlanta Area as unclassifiable/

attainment for that standard. See 74 FR 

58688. EPA did not promulgate 

designations for the 2006 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS because that NAAQS was 

essentially identical to the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS. The November 13, 2009, 


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4 Design values are the metrics that are compared 

to the NAAQS levels to determine attainment. The 

annual design value is calculated as the average of 

three consecutive annual means. See 40 CFR part 

50, Appendix N. 

action also clarified that all counties of 

the Atlanta Area were designated 

unclassifiable/attainment for the 1997 

24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS through the 

designations promulgated on January 5, 

2005. Therefore, the Area is designated 

nonattainment for the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS, and today’s action only 

addresses that designation. 

All 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS areas were 

originally designated under subpart 1 of 

title I, part D, of the CAA. Subpart 1 

contains the general requirements for 

nonattainment areas for any pollutant 

governed by a NAAQS and is less 

prescriptive than the other subparts of 

title I, part D. On April 25, 2007, EPA 

promulgated its Clean Air Fine Particle 

Implementation Rule, codified at 40 

CFR part 51, subpart Z, in which the 

Agency provided guidance for state and 

tribal plans to implement the 1997 PM2.5

NAAQS. See 72 FR 20664. This rule, at 

40 CFR 51.1004(c), specifies some of the 

regulatory results of attaining the 

NAAQS, as discussed below. The D.C. 

Circuit remanded the Clean Air Fine 

Particle Implementation Rule and the 

final rule entitled ‘‘Implementation of 

the New Source Review (NSR) Program 

for Particulate Matter Less than 2.5 

Micrometers (PM2.5)’’ (73 FR 28321, 

May 16, 2008) (collectively, ‘‘1997 PM2.5

Implementation Rules’’) to EPA on 

January 4, 2013, in Natural Resources 

Defense Council v. EPA, 706 F.3d 428 

(D.C. Cir. 2013). The Court found that 

EPA erred in implementing the 1997 

PM2.5 NAAQS pursuant to the general 

implementation provisions of subpart 1 

of Part D of Title I of the CAA rather 

than the particulate matter-specific 

provisions of subpart 4 of part D of title 

I. The effect of the Court’s ruling on this 

proposed redesignation action is 

discussed in detail in Section VI of this 

notice. 

The 3-year ambient air quality data for 

2008–2010 indicated no violations of 

the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS for the Atlanta 

Area. As a result, on August 30, 2012, 

Georgia requested redesignation of the 

Atlanta Area to attainment for the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The 

redesignation request includes three 

years of ambient air quality data, 

certified as quality-assured by the State 

of Georgia, for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS for 2008–2010, indicating that 

the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS had been 

achieved for the Atlanta Area. Under the 

CAA, nonattainment areas may be 

redesignated to attainment if sufficient 

quality-assured data is available for the 

Administrator to determine that the area 

has attained the standard and the area 

meets the other CAA redesignation 

requirements in section 107(d)(3)(E). 

The Atlanta Area’s design value,4 based 

on data from 2008 through 2010, is 

below 15.0 mg/m3, which demonstrates 

attainment of the standard. While 

annual PM2.5 concentrations are 

dependent on a variety of conditions, 

the overall improvement in annual 

PM2.5 concentrations in the Atlanta Area 

can be attributed to the reduction of 

pollutant emissions, as discussed in 

more detail in Section V of this 

proposed rulemaking. 

III. What are the criteria for 

redesignation? 

The CAA provides the requirements 

for redesignating a nonattainment area 

to attainment. Specifically, section 

107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA allows for 

redesignation provided the following 

criteria are met: (1) The Administrator 

determines that the area has attained the 

applicable NAAQS; (2) the 

Administrator has fully approved the 

applicable implementation plan for the 

area under section 110(k); (3) the 

Administrator determines that the 

improvement in air quality is due to 

permanent and enforceable reductions 

in emissions resulting from 

implementation of the applicable SIP 

and applicable Federal air pollutant 

control regulations and other permanent 

and enforceable reductions; (4) the 

Administrator has fully approved a 

maintenance plan for the area as 

meeting the requirements of section 

175A; and (5) the state containing such 

area has met all requirements applicable 

to the area under section 110 and part 

D of title I of the CAA. 

On April 16, 1992, EPA provided 

guidance on redesignation in the 

General Preamble for the 

Implementation of title I of the CAA 

Amendments of 1990 (57 FR 13498), 

and the Agency supplemented this 

guidance on April 28, 1992 (57 FR 

18070). EPA has provided further 

guidance on processing redesignation 

requests in the following documents: 

1. ‘‘Procedures for Processing 

Requests to Redesignate Areas to 

Attainment,’’ Memorandum from John 

Calcagni, Director, Air Quality 

Management Division, September 4, 

1992 (hereafter referred to as the 

‘‘Calcagni Memorandum’’); 

2. ‘‘State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

Actions Submitted in Response to Clean 

Air Act (CAA) Deadlines,’’ 

Memorandum from John Calcagni, 

Director, Air Quality Management 

Division, October 28, 1992; and 

3. ‘‘Part D New Source Review (Part 

D NSR) Requirements for Areas 

Requesting Redesignation to 

Attainment,’’ Memorandum from Mary 

D. Nichols, Assistant Administrator for 

Air and Radiation, October 14, 1994. 

IV. Why is EPA proposing these 

actions? 

On August 30, 2012, the State of 

Georgia, through the GA EPD, requested 

that EPA redesignate the Atlanta Area to 

attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS. EPA’s evaluation indicates that 

the Area has attained the 1997 PM2.5

NAAQS and meets the requirements for 

redesignation set forth in section 

107(d)(3)(E), including the maintenance 

plan requirements under section 175A 

of the CAA. As a result, EPA is 

proposing to take the three related 

actions summarized in section I of this 

notice. 

V. What is EPA’s analysis of the 

request? 

As stated above, in accordance with 

the CAA, EPA proposes in today’s 

action to: (1) Make the determination 

that the Atlanta Area continues to attain 

the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS; (2) 

approve the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS 

maintenance plan for the Atlanta Area, 

including the associated MVEBs, into 

the Georgia SIP as described below; and 

(3) redesignate the Atlanta Area to 

attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS. The five redesignation criteria 

provided under CAA section 

107(d)(3)(E) are discussed in greater 

detail for the Atlanta Area in the 

following paragraphs of this section. 

Criteria (1)—The Atlanta Area Has 

Attained the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the area has 

attained the applicable NAAQS (CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(i)). For PM2.5, an 

area may be considered to be attaining 

the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS if it 

meets the standards, as determined in 

accordance with 40 CFR 50.13 and 

Appendix N of part 50, based on three 

complete, consecutive calendar years of 

quality-assured air quality monitoring 

data. To attain these NAAQS, the 3-year 

average of the annual arithmetic mean 

concentration, as determined in 

accordance with 40 CFR part 50, 

Appendix N, must be less than or equal 

to 15.0 mg/m3 at all relevant monitoring 

sites in the subject area over a 3-year 

period. The relevant data must be 

collected and quality-assured in 

accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and 

recorded in the EPA Air Quality System 

(AQS) database. The monitors generally 


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5The design value for an area is the highest 3- 

year average of annual mean concentrations 

recorded at any monitor in the area. Therefore, the 

3-year design value for the period on which Georgia 

based its redesignation request (2008–2010) for the 

Atlanta Area is 12.9 mg/m3, which is below the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Additional details can be 

found in EPA’s final clean data determination for 

the Atlanta Area. See 76 FR 76620 (December 8, 

2011). 

should have remained at the same 

location for the duration of the 

monitoring period required for 

demonstrating attainment. 

On December 8, 2011, EPA 

determined that the Atlanta Area was 

attaining the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS and that the Area had attained 

the NAAQS by the applicable 

attainment date of April 5, 2010.5 See 76 

FR 76620. For that action, EPA reviewed 

PM2.5 monitoring data from monitoring 

stations in the Atlanta Area for the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS for 2007 through 

2010. Those data were quality-assured 

and recorded in AQS. For today’s 

proposed action, EPA has reviewed all 

PM2.5 monitoring data after 2010 from 

the seven PM2.5 monitoring stations, and 

that data indicates that the Atlanta Area 

continues to attain the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS. 

As shown in Table 1 below, the 

monitors in the Atlanta Area that have 

collected complete data since 2010 all 

have three-year average PM2.5

concentrations (i.e., design values) that 

are in attainment with the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS and are trending 

downward overall. The most recent 

available design value is for 2014 and is 

based on the 3-year period 2012–2014. 

The Fire Station No. 8 monitor had 

incomplete data during the 3rd quarter 

of 2012 and is not eligible for the high 

value data substitution test in 40 CFR 

part 50, Appendix N. However, based 

upon the analysis described in the 

monitoring Technical Support 

Document (TSD) located in the docket 

for today’s action, EPA has 

preliminarily determined that the upper 

end of the probable range for the 2014 

design value at the Fire Station No. 8 

monitor (11.1 mg/m3) is well below the 

NAAQS. On the basis of this review, 

EPA has preliminarily concluded that 

the Atlanta Area continues to meet the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS of 15.0 mg/ 

m3 for the period 2012–2014, the most 

recent 3-year period of certified data 

availability. 

TABLE 1—DESIGN VALUE CONCENTRATIONS FOR THE ATLANTA AREA FOR THE 1997 ANNUAL PM2.5 NAAQS 

[μg/m3] 

Location Site ID 

3-Year design values 

2008–2010 2009–2011 2010–2012 2011–2013 2012–2014 

Georgia DOT ................................................................ 13–063–0091 12.9 12.6 12.3 11.1 10.3 

GA National Guard ...................................................... 13–067–0003 12.3 * 11.7 * 11.3 * 10.4 10.0 

Powder Springs # .......................................................... 13–067–0004 * 11.9 * 11.3 11.1 NA NA 

South DeKalb ............................................................... 13–089–0002 12.1 11.9 11.5 10.5 9.9 

Police Dept. # ................................................................ 13–089–2001 12.3 * 11.8 * 11.3 NA NA 

E. Rivers School # ........................................................ 13–121–0032 12.3 * 11.8 * 11.3 NA NA 

Fire Station No. 8 ......................................................... 13–121–0039 * 11.4 13.2 13.0 * 11.6 * 11.0 

Gwinnett Tech .............................................................. 13–135–0002 12.1 * 11.6 * 11.2 * 10.1 9.5 

Gainesville .................................................................... 13–139–0003 11.2 10.7 10.4 9.5 8.9 

Yorkville ........................................................................ 13–223–0003 11.0 * 10.6 * 10.3 * 9.3 8.7 

* Data is incomplete. 

# Monitor shut down at the end of 2012 in accordance the State’s federally approved monitoring network plan. 

The most recent data indicate the 

Atlanta Area continues to attain the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS beyond the 

submitted 3-year attainment period of 

2008–2010. If the Area does not 

continue to attain before EPA finalizes 

the redesignation, EPA will not go 

forward with the redesignation. As 

discussed in more detail below, GA EPD 

has committed to continue monitoring 

in this Area in accordance with 40 CFR 

part 58. 

Criteria (5)—Georgia Has Met All 

Applicable Requirements Under Section 

110 and Part D of the CAA; and Criteria 

(2)—Georgia Has a Fully Approved SIP 

Under Section 110(k) for the Atlanta 

Area 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the state has met 

all applicable requirements under 

section 110 and part D of title I of the 

CAA (CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(v)) and 

that the state has a fully approved SIP 

under section 110(k) for the area (CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii)). EPA proposes 

to find that Georgia has met all 

applicable SIP requirements for the 

Atlanta Area under section 110 of the 

CAA (general SIP requirements) and 

that the Georgia SIP satisfies the 

criterion that it meets applicable SIP 

requirements for purposes of 

redesignation under part D of title I of 

the CAA (requirements specific to 1997 

Annual PM2.5 nonattainment areas) in 

accordance with section 107(d)(3)(E)(v). 

Further, EPA proposes to determine that 

the SIP is fully approved with respect to 

all requirements applicable for purposes 

of redesignation in accordance with 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii). In making these 

determinations, EPA ascertained which 

requirements are applicable to the Area 

and, if applicable, that they are fully 

approved under section 110(k). SIPs 

must be fully approved only with 

respect to requirements that were 

applicable prior to submittal of the 

complete redesignation request. 

a. The Atlanta Area Has Met All 

Applicable Requirements Under Section 

110 and Part D of the CAA 

General SIP requirements. Section 

110(a)(2) of title I of the CAA delineates 

the general requirements for a SIP, 

which include enforceable emissions 

limitations and other control measures, 

means, or techniques; provisions for the 

establishment and operation of 

appropriate devices necessary to collect 

data on ambient air quality; and 

programs to enforce the limitations. 

General SIP elements and requirements 

are delineated in section 110(a)(2) of 

title I, part A of the CAA. These 

requirements include, but are not 

limited to, the following: Submittal of a 

SIP that has been adopted by the state 

after reasonable public notice and 

hearing; provisions for establishment 

and operation of appropriate procedures 

needed to monitor ambient air quality; 

implementation of a source permit 

program; provisions for the 


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6This regulation was promulgated as part of the 

1997 PM2.5 NAAQS implementation rule that was 

subsequently challenged and remanded in NRDC v. 

EPA, 706 F.3d 428 (D.C. Cir. 2013), as discussed in 

Section VI of this notice. However, the Clean Data 

Policy portion of the implementation rule was not 

at issue in that case. 

implementation of part C requirements 

(Prevention of Significant Deterioration 

(PSD)) and provisions for the 

implementation of part D requirements 

(NSR permit programs); provisions for 

air pollution modeling; and provisions 

for public and local agency participation 

in planning and emission control rule 

development. 

Section 110(a)(2)(D) requires that SIPs 

contain certain measures to prevent 

sources in a state from significantly 

contributing to air quality problems in 

another state. To implement this 

provision, EPA has required certain 

states to establish programs to address 

the interstate transport of air pollutants. 

The section 110(a)(2)(D) requirements 

for a state are not linked with a 

particular nonattainment area’s 

designation and classification in that 

state. EPA believes that the 

requirements linked with a particular 

nonattainment area’s designation and 

classification are the relevant measures 

to evaluate in reviewing a redesignation 

request. The transport SIP submittal 

requirements, where applicable, 

continue to apply to a state regardless of 

the designation of any one particular 

area in the state. Thus, EPA does not 

believe that the CAA’s interstate 

transport requirements should be 

construed to be applicable requirements 

for purposes of redesignation. 

In addition, EPA believes other 

section 110 elements that are neither 

connected with nonattainment plan 

submissions nor linked with an area’s 

attainment status are not applicable 

requirements for purposes of 

redesignation. The area will still be 

subject to these requirements after the 

area is redesignated. The section 110 

and part D requirements which are 

linked with a particular area’s 

designation and classification are the 

relevant measures to evaluate in 

reviewing a redesignation request. This 

approach is consistent with EPA’s 

existing policy on applicability (i.e., for 

redesignations) of conformity and 

oxygenated fuels requirements, as well 

as with section 184 ozone transport 

requirements. See Reading, 

Pennsylvania, proposed and final 

rulemakings (61 FR 53174–53176, 

October 10, 1996), (62 FR 24826, May 7, 

1997); Cleveland-Akron-Loraine, Ohio, 

final rulemaking (61 FR 20458, May 7, 

1996); and Tampa, Florida, final 

rulemaking at (60 FR 62748, December 

7, 1995). See also the discussion on this 

issue in the Cincinnati, Ohio, 

redesignation (65 FR 37890, June 19, 

2000) and in the Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania, redesignation (66 FR 

50399, October 19, 2001). 

In any event, on October 25, 2012, 

EPA approved all infrastructure SIP 

elements required under section 

110(a)(2) for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS with the exception of the 

visibility element under section 

110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) (also known as ‘‘prong 

4’’). See 77 FR 65125. EPA approved 

prong 4 for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS on May 7, 2014. See 79 FR 

26143. These requirements are 

statewide requirements that are not 

linked to the PM2.5 nonattainment status 

of the Atlanta Area, and thus, as stated 

above, EPA does not believe these 

section 110 elements to be applicable 

for purposes of this redesignation. 

Therefore, EPA believes it has approved 

all SIP elements under section 110 that 

must be approved as a prerequisite for 

the redesignation to attainment of the 

Atlanta Area. 

Title I, Part D, subpart 1 applicable 

SIP requirements. EPA proposes to 

determine that the Georgia SIP meets 

the applicable SIP requirements for the 

Atlanta Area for purposes of 

redesignation under part D of the CAA. 

Subpart 1 of part D, found in sections 

172–176 of the CAA, sets forth the basic 

nonattainment requirements applicable 

to all nonattainment areas. All areas that 

were designated nonattainment for the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS were 

designated under subpart 1 of the CAA. 

For purposes of evaluating this 

redesignation request, the applicable 

part D, subpart 1 SIP requirements for 

all nonattainment areas are contained in 

sections 172(c)(1)–(9) and in section 

176. A thorough discussion of the 

requirements contained in sections 172 

and 176 can be found in the General 

Preamble for Implementation of title I. 

See 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992). 

Section VI of this proposed rulemaking 

notice discusses the relationship 

between this proposed redesignation 

action and subpart 4 of Part D. 

Subpart 1 Section 172 Requirements. 

Section 172(c)(1) requires the plans for 

all nonattainment areas to provide for 

the implementation of all reasonably 

available control measures (RACM) as 

expeditiously as practicable and to 

provide for attainment of the NAAQS. 

EPA interprets this requirement to 

impose a duty on all nonattainment 

areas to consider all available control 

measures and to adopt and implement 

such measures as are reasonably 

available for implementation in each 

area as components of the area’s 

attainment demonstration. Under 

section 172, states with nonattainment 

areas must submit plans providing for 

timely attainment and meeting a variety 

of other requirements. However, 

pursuant to 40 CFR 51.1004(c), EPA’s 

final determination that the Atlanta 

Area is attaining the PM2.5 standard 

suspended Georgia’s obligation to 

submit most of the attainment planning 

requirements that would otherwise 

apply. 

EPA’s longstanding interpretation of 

the nonattainment planning 

requirements of section 172 is that once 

an area is attaining the NAAQS, those 

requirements are not ‘‘applicable’’ for 

purposes of CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii) 

and therefore need not be approved into 

the SIP before EPA can redesignate the 

area. In the 1992 General Preamble for 

Implementation of Title I, EPA set forth 

its interpretation of applicable 

requirements for purposes of evaluating 

redesignation requests when an area is 

attaining a standard. See 57 FR 13498, 

13564 (April 16, 1992). EPA noted that 

the requirements for reasonable further 

progress (RFP) and other measures 

designed to provide for attainment do 

not apply in evaluating redesignation 

requests because those nonattainment 

planning requirements ‘‘have no 

meaning’’ for an area that has already 

attained the standard. Id. This 

interpretation was also set forth in the 

Calcagni Memorandum. EPA’s 

understanding of section 172 also forms 

the basis of its Clean Data Policy, which 

was articulated with regard to PM2.5 in 

40 CFR 51.1004(c), and suspends a 

state’s obligation to submit most of the 

attainment planning requirements that 

would otherwise apply, including an 

attainment demonstration and planning 

SIPs to provide for RFP, RACM, and 

contingency measures under section 

172(c)(9).6 Courts have upheld EPA’s 

interpretation of section 172(c)(1)’s 

‘‘reasonably available’’ control measures 

and control technology as meaning only 

those controls that advance attainment, 

which precludes the need to require 

additional measures where an area is 

already attaining. NRDC v. EPA, 571 

F.3d 1245, 1252 (D.C. Cir. 2009); Sierra 

Club v. EPA, 294 F.3d 155, 162 (D.C. 

Cir. 2002); Sierra Club v. EPA, 314 F.3d 

735, 744 (5th Cir. 2002). 

Therefore, because attainment has 

been reached in the Atlanta Area, no 

additional measures are needed to 

provide for attainment, and section 

172(c)(1) requirements for an attainment 

demonstration and RACM are no longer 

considered to be applicable for purposes 

of redesignation as long as the Area 

continues to attain the standard until 


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7CAA Section 176(c)(4)(E) requires states to 

submit revisions to their SIPs to reflect certain 

federal criteria and procedures for determining 

transportation conformity. Transportation 

conformity SIPs are different from the motor vehicle 

emission budgets that are established in control 

strategy SIPs and maintenance plans. 

redesignation. The section 172(c)(2) 

requirement that nonattainment plans 

contain provisions promoting 

reasonable further progress toward 

attainment is also not relevant for 

purposes of redesignation because EPA 

has determined that the Atlanta Area 

has monitored attainment of the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. In addition, 

because the Atlanta Area has attained 

the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS and is 

no longer subject to a RFP requirement, 

the requirement to submit the section 

172(c)(9) contingency measures is not 

applicable for purposes of 

redesignation. Section 172(c)(6) requires 

the SIP to contain control measures 

necessary to provide for attainment of 

the NAAQS. Because attainment has 

been reached, no additional measures 

are needed to provide for attainment. 

Section 172(c)(3) requires submission 

for approval a comprehensive, accurate, 

and current inventory of actual 

emissions. On March 1, 2012, EPA 

approved Georgia’s 2002 base-year 

emissions inventory for the Atlanta 

Area. See 77 FR 12487. 

Section 172(c)(4) requires the 

identification and quantification of 

allowable emissions for major new and 

modified stationary sources to be 

allowed in an area, and section 172(c)(5) 

requires source permits for the 

construction and operation of new and 

modified major stationary sources 

anywhere in the nonattainment area. 

EPA has determined that, since PSD 

requirements will apply after 

redesignation, areas being redesignated 

need not comply with the requirement 

that a NSR program be approved prior 

to redesignation, provided that the area 

demonstrates maintenance of the 

NAAQS without part D NSR. A more 

detailed rationale for this view is 

described in a memorandum from Mary 

Nichols, Assistant Administrator for Air 

and Radiation, dated October 14, 1994, 

entitled ‘‘Part D New Source Review 

Requirements for Areas Requesting 

Redesignation to Attainment.’’ Georgia 

has demonstrated that the Atlanta Area 

will be able to maintain the NAAQS 

without part D NSR in effect, and 

therefore Georgia need not have fully 

approved part D NSR programs prior to 

approval of the redesignation request. 

Georgia’s PSD program will become 

effective in the Atlanta Area upon 

redesignation to attainment. 

Section 172(c)(7) requires the SIP to 

meet the applicable provisions of 

section 110(a)(2). As noted above, EPA 

believes the Georgia SIP meets the 

requirements of section 110(a)(2) 

applicable for purposes of 

redesignation. 

176 Conformity Requirements. 

Section 176(c) of the CAA requires 

states to establish criteria and 

procedures to ensure that federallysupported or funded projects conform to 

the air quality planning goals in the 

applicable SIP. The requirement to 

determine conformity applies to 

transportation plans, programs, and 

projects that are developed, funded, or 

approved under title 23 of the United 

States Code (U.S.C.) and the Federal 

Transit Act (transportation conformity) 

as well as to all other federallysupported or funded projects (general 

conformity). State transportation 

conformity SIP revisions must be 

consistent with federal conformity 

regulations relating to consultation, 

enforcement, and enforceability that 

EPA promulgated pursuant to its 

authority under the CAA. 

EPA believes that it is reasonable to 

interpret the conformity SIP 

requirements 7 as not applying for 

purposes of evaluating the redesignation 

request under section 107(d) because 

state conformity rules are still required 

after redesignation and federal 

conformity rules apply where state rules 

have not been approved. See Wall v. 

EPA, 265 F.3d 426 (upholding this 

interpretation) (6th Cir. 2001); See 60 FR 

62748 (December 7, 1995). Nonetheless, 

Georgia has an approved conformity SIP 

for the Atlanta Area. See 77 FR 35866 

(June 15, 2012). 

Thus, for the reasons discussed above, 

the Atlanta Area has satisfied all 

applicable requirements for purposes of 

redesignation under section 110 and 

part D of the CAA. 

b. The Atlanta Area Has a Fully 

Approved Applicable SIP Under Section 

110(k) of the CAA 

EPA has fully approved the applicable 

Georgia SIP for the Atlanta Area for the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS under 

section 110(k) of the CAA for all 

requirements applicable for purposes of 

redesignation. EPA may rely on prior 

SIP approvals in approving a 

redesignation request (see Calcagni 

Memorandum at p. 3; Southwestern 

Pennsylvania Growth Alliance v. 

Browner, 144 F.3d 984 (6th Cir. 1998); 

Wall, 265 F.3d 426) plus any additional 

measures it may approve in conjunction 

with a redesignation action. See 68 FR 

25426 (May 12, 2003) and citations 

therein. Following passage of the CAA 

of 1970, Georgia has adopted and 

submitted, and EPA has fully approved 

at various times, provisions addressing 

the various SIP elements applicable for 

the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS in the 

Atlanta Area (e.g., 77 FR 65125 (October 

25, 2012)). 

As indicated above, EPA believes that 

the section 110 elements that are neither 

connected with nonattainment plan 

submissions nor linked to the area’s 

nonattainment status are not applicable 

requirements for purposes of 

redesignation. EPA has approved all 

part D requirements applicable for 

purposes of this redesignation. 

Criteria (3)—The Air Quality 

Improvement in the Atlanta Area Is Due 

to Permanent and Enforceable 

Reductions in Emissions Resulting From 

Implementation of the SIP and 

Applicable Federal Air Pollution 

Control Regulations and Other 

Permanent and Enforceable Reductions 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the air quality 

improvement in the area is due to 

permanent and enforceable reductions 

in emissions resulting from 

implementation of the SIP and 

applicable Federal air pollution control 

regulations and other permanent and 

enforceable reductions (CAA section 

107(d)(3)(E)(iii)). EPA has preliminarily 

determined that Georgia has 

demonstrated that the observed air 

quality improvement in the Atlanta 

Area is due to permanent and 

enforceable reductions in emissions 

resulting from implementation of the 

SIP and Federal measures. 

Federal measures enacted in recent 

years have resulted in permanent 

emission reductions in particulate 

matter and its precursors. Most of these 

emission reductions are enforceable 

through regulations. A few nonregulatory measures also result in 

emission reductions. The Federal 

measures that have been implemented 

include: 

Tier 2 vehicle standards and lowsulfur gasoline. Implementation of the 

Tier 2 vehicle standards began in 2004, 

and as newer, cleaner cars enter the 

national fleet, these standards continue 

to significantly reduce NOX emissions. 

The standards require all classes of 

passenger vehicles in any 

manufacturer’s fleet to meet an average 

standard of 0.07 grams of NOX per mile. 

In addition, starting in January of 2006, 

the Tier 2 rule reduced the allowable 

sulfur content of gasoline to 30 parts per 

million (ppm). Most gasoline sold prior 

to this had a sulfur content of 

approximately 300 ppm. EPA expects 


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8Rule (sss) established the following 2008–2010 

deadlines for FGD operation: December 31, 2008, at 

Plant Bowen Units 3 and 4, Plant Hammond Units 

1 through 4, Plant Wansley Unit 1, and Plant Yates 

Unit 1; June 1, 2009, at Plant Bowen Unit 2; 

December 31, 2009, at Plant Wansley Unit 2; and 

June 1, 2010, at Plant Bowen Unit 1. The Rule 

established the following 2008–2010 deadlines for 

SCR operation: December 31, 2008, at Plant Bowen 

Units 3 and 4, Plant Hammond Unit 4, and Plant 

Wansley Unit 1; June 1, 2009, at Plant Bowen Unit 

2; December 31, 2009, at Plant Wansley Unit 2; and 

June 1, 2010, at Plant Bowen Unit 1. Plants Bowen 

and Wansley are located in the Atlanta Area, and 

Plant Hammond is located in Floyd County, 

Georgia, which is adjacent to the northwestern 

portion of the Atlanta Area. 

that these standards will reduce NOX

emissions from vehicles by 

approximately 74 percent by 2030, 

translating to nearly 3 million tons 

annually by 2030. 

Heavy-duty gasoline and diesel 

highway vehicle standards & ultra lowsulfur diesel rule. On October 6, 2000, 

EPA promulgated a rule to reduce NOX

and VOC emissions from heavy-duty 

gasoline and diesel highway vehicles 

that began to take effect in 2004. See 65 

FR 59896. On January 18, 2001, EPA 

promulgated a second phase of 

standards and testing procedures which 

began in 2007 to reduce particulate 

matter emissions from heavy-duty 

highway engines and reduced the 

maximum highway diesel fuel sulfur 

content from 500 ppm to 15 ppm. See 

66 FR 5002. The total program should 

achieve a 90 percent reduction in PM 

emissions and a 95 percent reduction in 

NOX emissions for new engines using 

low-sulfur diesel, compared to existing 

engines using higher-content sulfur 

diesel. EPA expects that this rule will 

reduce NOX emissions by 2.6 million 

tons by 2030 when the heavy-duty 

vehicle fleet is completely replaced with 

newer heavy-duty vehicles that comply 

with these emission standards. 

Non-road, large spark-ignition 

engines and recreational engines 

standards. The non-road spark-ignition 

and recreational engine standards, 

effective in July 2003, regulate NOX, 

hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide 

from groups of previously unregulated 

non-road engines. These engine 

standards apply to large spark-ignition 

engines (e.g., forklifts and airport 

ground service equipment), recreational 

vehicles (e.g., off-highway motorcycles 

and all-terrain-vehicles), and 

recreational marine diesel engines sold 

in the United States and imported after 

the effective date of these standards. 

When all of the non-road spark-ignition 

and recreational engine standards are 

fully implemented, an overall 72 

percent reduction in hydrocarbons, 80 

percent reduction in NOX, and 56 

percent reduction in carbon monoxide 

emissions are expected by 2020. These 

controls help reduce ambient 

concentrations of PM2.5. 

Large non-road diesel engine 

standards. This rule, which applies to 

diesel engines used in industries such 

as construction, agriculture, and mining, 

was promulgated in 2004 and fully 

phased in by 2014. This rule reduced 

allowable non-road diesel fuel sulfur 

levels from approximately 3,000 ppm to 

500 ppm in 2007 and further reduced 

those levels to 15 ppm starting in 2010 

(a 99 percent reduction). This rule also 

achieved significant reductions of up to 

90 percent for NOX and particulate 

matter emissions nationwide. 

NOX SIP Call. On October 27, 1998 

(63 FR 57356), EPA issued the NOX SIP 

Call requiring the District of Columbia 

and 22 states to reduce emissions of 

NOX, a precursor to ozone and PM2.5

pollution, and providing a mechanism 

(the NOX Budget Trading Program) that 

states could use to achieve those 

reductions. Affected states were 

required to comply with Phase I of the 

SIP Call beginning in 2004 and Phase II 

beginning in 2007. By the end of 2008, 

ozone season NOX emissions from 

sources subject to the NOX SIP Call 

dropped by 62 percent from 2000 

emissions levels. All NOX SIP Call states 

have SIPs that currently satisfy their 

obligations under the NOX SIP Call, and 

EPA will continue to enforce the 

requirements of the NOX SIP Call. 

CAIR and CSAPR. In its redesignation 

request and maintenance plan, the State 

identified the Clean Air Interstate Rule 

(CAIR) as a permanent and enforceable 

measure that contributed to attainment 

in the Atlanta Area. Moreover, by 2007, 

the beginning of the attainment time 

period identified by Georgia, CAIR had 

been promulgated and was achieving 

emission reductions. CAIR created 

regional cap-and-trade programs to 

reduce SO2 and NOX emissions in 27 

eastern states, including Georgia, that 

contributed to downwind 

nonattainment or interfered with 

maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS and the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. 

See 70 FR 25162 (May 12, 2005). 

In 2007 the State promulgated Georgia 

Rules 391–3–1–.02(2)(sss)— 

‘‘Multipollutant Rule’’ (Rule (sss)) and 

391–3–1–.02(2)(uuu)—‘‘SO2 Emissions 

from Electric Steam Utility Steam 

Generating Units’’ (Rule (uuu)) in 

response to CAIR. Rule (sss) requires the 

installation and operation of flue gas 

desulfurization (FGD) to control SO2

emissions and selective catalytic 

reduction (SCR) to control NOX

emissions on the majority of the coalfired electric generating units (EGUs) in 

Georgia, and Rule (uuu) requires a 95 

percent reduction in SO2 emissions 

from those EGUs. Thus, Rules (sss) and 

(uuu) act as companion rules for the 

reduction of SO2 emissions, with Rule 

(sss) requiring control equipment 

installation and Rule (uuu) imposing 

SO2 emission limitations. Georgia 

designed Rules (sss) and (uuu) to 

require emissions reductions consistent 

with achieving the reductions mandated 

by CAIR’s original compliance schedule 

beginning in 2009. The implementation 

dates for Rules (sss) and (uuu) are 

phased-in across the covered EGUs, 

starting on December 31, 2008, for Rule 

(sss) and January 1, 2010, for Rule 

(uuu).8 By installing and operating FGD 

and SCR controls in accordance with 

Rule (sss), Georgia EGUs also met the 

requirements of CAIR. 

In 2008 the United States Court of 

Appeals for the District of Columbia 

Circuit (D.C. Circuit) initially vacated 

CAIR, North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 

896 (D.C. Cir. 2008), but ultimately 

remanded the rule to EPA without 

vacatur to preserve the environmental 

benefits provided by CAIR, North 

Carolina v. EPA, 550 F.3d 1176, 1178 

(D.C. Cir. 2008). On August 8, 2011 (76 

FR 48208), acting on the D.C. Circuit’s 

remand, EPA promulgated the CrossState Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) to 

replace CAIR and thus to address the 

interstate transport of emissions 

contributing to nonattainment and 

interfering with maintenance of the two 

air quality standards covered by CAIR as 

well as the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. CSAPR 

requires substantial reductions of SO2

and NOX emissions from EGUs in 28 

states in the Eastern United States. As 

a general matter, because CSAPR is 

CAIR’s replacement, emissions 

reductions associated with CAIR will for 

most areas be made permanent and 

enforceable through implementation of 

CSAPR. 

Numerous parties filed petitions for 

review of CSAPR in the D.C. Circuit, 

and on August 21, 2012, the court 

issued its ruling, vacating and 

remanding CSAPR to EPA and ordering 

continued implementation of CAIR. 

EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. 

EPA, 696 F.3d 7, 38 (D.C. Cir. 2012). The 

D.C. Circuit’s vacatur of CSAPR was 

reversed by the United States Supreme 

Court on April 29, 2014, and the case 

was remanded to the D.C. Circuit to 

resolve remaining issues in accordance 

with the high court’s ruling. EPA v. EME 

Homer City Generation, L.P., 134 S. Ct. 

1584 (2014). On remand, the D.C. 

Circuit affirmed CSAPR in most 

respects, but invalidated without 

vacating some of the CSAPR budgets as 

to a number of states. EME Homer City 

Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 795 F.3d 118 


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9The improvement in PM2.5 air quality in the 

Area from nonattainment to attainment is not due 

to CSAPR emissions reductions because, as noted 

above, CSAPR did not go into effect until January 

1, 2015, after the Area was already attaining the 

standard. 

10CAIR and CSAPR established annual NOX and 

SO2 budgets to address nonattainment and 

interference with maintenance of the PM2.5 standard 

because, as discussed above in Section II, NOX and 

SO2 are two primary PM2.5 precursors. 

11This data was collected through the Acid Rain 

Program and is available on EPA’s CAMD Web site 

at http://www2.epa.gov/airmarkets. 

12Only two of the seven state Phase 2 SO2

budgets were remanded by the D.C. Circuit in EME 

Homer City II, and the emissions from these two 

states represented only 19.5 percent (515,165 tons) 

of the total SO2 EGU emissions from the seven 

significantly contributing states in 2008, 19.3 

percent (375,913 tons) in 2009, and 16.5 percent 

(298,803 tons) in 2010. The CSAPR Phase 2 SO2

budgets for the remaining five states, and the 

emissions reductions those budgets require, are 

unaffected by the Court’s remand and are 

permanent and enforceable. Moreover, updated air 

quality modeling performed for the CSAPR 

rulemaking identified additional states that 

interfered with Atlanta’s attainment of the 1997 

PM2.5 NAAQS, and SO2 emission reductions from 

those additional states are unaffected by the D.C. 

Circuit’s remand. 76 FR 48207, 48241 (August 8, 

2011). 

13 GA EPD, Sensitivity of Annual PM2.5 in Atlanta 

to SO2 Emission Reductions Resulting from 

Georgia’s Multipollutant Rule [391–3–1–.02(2)(sss)] 

(attachment to a November 3, 2015, email from 

James Boylan, GA EPD, to Joel Huey, EPA Region 

4, included in the docket for this action). 

14By the end of 2009, Rule (sss) required FGD 

operation at Plant Bowen Units 2 through 4, Plant 

Hammond Units 1 through 4, Plant Wansley Units 

1 and 2, and Plant Yates Unit 1. 

15EPA’s Clean Data Determination for the Atlanta 

Area describes this data substitution. See 76 FR 

76620 (December 8, 2011). 

16EPA Region 4, Technical Support Document for 

Georgia Rule (sss) Impact Analysis (November 

2015). 

(D.C. Cir. 2015) (EME Homer City II). 

The remanded budgets include the 

Phase 2 SO2 emissions budgets for 

Georgia. The Phase 2 annual and ozone 

season NOX budgets for Georgia are not 

affected by the Court’s decision. The 

litigation over CSAPR ultimately 

delayed implementation of that rule for 

three years, from January 1, 2012, when 

CSAPR’s cap-and-trade programs were 

originally scheduled to replace the CAIR 

cap-and-trade programs, to January 1, 

2015. Thus, the rule’s Phase 2 budgets 

were originally promulgated to begin on 

January 1, 2014, and are now scheduled 

to begin on January 1, 2017. CSAPR will 

continue to operate under the existing 

emissions budgets until EPA addresses 

the D.C. Circuit’s remand. 

Although the State identified CAIR as 

a permanent and enforceable measure 

that contributed to attainment of the 

1997 PM2.5 NAAQS in the Atlanta Area, 

EPA is proposing to approve the 

redesignation of the Atlanta Area 

without relying the SO2 emissions 

reductions associated with CAIR at 

Georgia EGUs as having led to 

attainment of the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS or 

contributing to maintenance of that 

standard.9 In so doing, we are proposing 

to determine that the D.C. Circuit’s 

invalidation of the Georgia CSAPR 

Phase 2 SO2 emissions budgets does not 

bar today’s proposed redesignation. The 

Court’s decision did not affect Georgia’s 

CSAPR Phase 2 annual NOX emissions 

budgets; therefore, CSAPR ensures that 

the NOX emissions reductions 

associated with CAIR at Georgia EGUs 

are permanent and enforceable.10

In its redesignation request, Georgia 

noted that a number of states 

significantly contributed to PM2.5

concentrations in the Atlanta Area 

based on EPA air quality modeling. EPA 

identified the Atlanta Area as an area 

that was significantly impacted by 

pollution transported from other states 

in both CAIR and CSAPR, and these 

rules greatly reduced the tons of SO2

emissions generated in the states 

upwind of the Atlanta Area. The air 

quality modeling performed for the 

CAIR rulemaking identified the 

following seven states as having 

significantly contributed to PM2.5

concentrations in the Atlanta Area: 

Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, 

Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee. 

See 70 FR 25162, 25247–49 (May 12, 

2005). The total annual SO2 emissions 

generated by EGUs in these seven states 

in 2004, prior to the promulgation of 

CAIR in 2005, was approximately 

3,814,790 tons. Even though the first 

phase of CAIR implementation for SO2

did not begin until 2010, many sources 

began reducing their emissions well in 

advance of the first compliance deadline 

because of the incentives offered by 

CAIR for early compliance with the rule. 

Therefore, by 2008, the total annual SO2

emissions generated by EGUs in the 

seven states significantly contributing to 

nonattainment in the Atlanta Area was 

approximately 2,636,952 tons, and by 

2010, that volume had decreased to 

approximately 1,814,572 tons.11 The 

vast majority of the SO2 emission 

reductions in the states upwind of the 

Atlanta Area achieved by CAIR, and 

made permanent by CSAPR, are 

unaffected by the D.C. Circuit’s remand 

of CSAPR.12

Regarding the impact of SO2 emission 

reductions from Georgia EGUs 

associated with CAIR, EPA is proposing 

to determine that the Atlanta Area 

would have attained the 1997 PM2.5

NAAQS even without those in-state 

EGU reductions. The Agency has 

reviewed an analysis submitted by the 

State on January 10, 2015, and revised 

on November 3, 2015, evaluating the 

sensitivity of PM2.5 concentrations in 

the Area to SO2 reductions associated 

with Rule (sss).13 The analysis was 

based on photochemical modeling 

conducted by the Visibility 

Improvement State and Tribal 

Association of the Southeast (VISTAS). 

The State used this modeling to 

determine the sensitivity of PM2.5

concentrations at the ten air quality 

monitors in the Atlanta Area to 

reductions in SO2 emissions from 

certain Georgia EGUs. The State then 

estimated, for each monitor, the air 

quality impact of the SO2 emission 

reductions from Georgia Rule (sss),14

and thus from CAIR, that occurred 

during the relevant time period. Georgia 

estimated that the SO2 controls in place 

due to Rule (sss) by the end of 2009 

reduced the 2008–2010 Annual PM2.5

design value by approximately 0.6 mg/

m3. Adding this impact to the highest 

2008–2010 design value for the Atlanta 

Area, 13.6 mg/m3 for the Fire Station No. 

8 site (with data substitution),15 yields 

a maximum PM2.5 concentration of 14.2 

mg/m3, meeting the 1997 Annual PM2.5

standard of 15 mg/m3. The State 

therefore concluded that the Area would 

have attained the standard in the 2008– 

2010 timeframe even without the SO2

emission reductions, in place by the end 

of 2009, from Georgia Rule (sss). 

EPA proposes to agree with this 

analysis and believes that adding the 0.6 

mg/m3 value to the 2008–2010 design 

value is a reasonable estimate of the 

actual impact of the SO2 emissions 

reductions due to Rule (sss) and CAIR 

at Georgia EGUs. For more information 

about Georgia’s sensitivity analysis and 

EPA’s review of that analysis, see the 

Rule (sss) impact TSD included in the 

docket for this action.16

State Measures. The State identified 

Rules (sss) and (uuu) and the State’s 

April 16, 2008 smoke management plan 

as state control measures that 

contributed to attainment of the 1997 

PM2.5 NAAQS in the Atlanta Area. 

Although Georgia describes these state 

measures in the section of its submittal 

devoted to ‘‘permanent and 

enforceable’’ reductions under CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(iii), ‘‘enforceable’’ 

means federally enforceable. Therefore, 

state measures that are not approved by 

EPA into a state’s SIP are not 

‘‘enforceable’’ for purposes of the CAA. 

However, EPA does not believe that the 

state measures’ lack of enforceability 

poses a bar to proposed approval of the 

redesignation of the Atlanta Area. 

First, as discussed above, EPA 

proposes to agree with the State’s 

sensitivity analysis demonstrating that 

the Area would have attained the 1997 


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17 76 FR 48208, August 8, 2011. 

18See 2011 emissions inventory information 

available at http://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/

eiinformation.html. Georgia also stated that the 

measure is not necessary for the continued 

maintenance of attainment in the Atlanta Area. 

PM2.5 NAAQS even without the SO2

emission reductions associated with the 

installation of SO2 controls on Georgia 

EGUs subject to Rule (sss) and CAIR. To 

the extent that the controls required by 

Rule (sss) also achieved annual NOX

reductions, CSAPR makes those 

reductions permanent and federally 

enforceable with its federal 

implementation plan (FIP) regarding 

Georgia’s annual NOX emissions budget, 

which was not affected by the D.C. 

Circuit’s recent remand of other state 

budgets.17 Second, to the extent that 

Rule (uuu) resulted in any reductions 

before its January 1, 2010, compliance 

date, Georgia’s sensitivity analysis 

assumed that the FGD controls required 

by Rule (sss) achieve the 95 percent 

reduction in SO2 emissions required by 

Rule (uuu). Because Georgia’s 

sensitivity analysis demonstrates that 

Rule (sss) was not necessary for 

attainment of the NAAQS in the Atlanta 

Area using emissions reductions 

associated with a 95 percent reduction 

in SO2, the same reduction required by 

Rule (uuu), the analysis also 

demonstrates that Rule (uuu) was not 

necessary for attainment prior to 

January 1, 2010. Finally, with regard to 

the State’s smoke management plan, 

that measure is focused on protection of 

Georgia’s forest land. While the SMP 

may result in some direct PM emission 

reductions, such reductions are likely to 

be modest because the SMP is not an 

emission reduction measure. The SMP 

was developed as tool to minimize the 

public health and environmental 

impacts of smoke intrusion into 

populated areas through better 

management of fires that are important 

to forests and agricultural resources. In 

addition, the State deemed it important 

to have an SMP in place for the purpose 

of flagging unusually large forest fires as 

exceptional events (which could impact 

an area’s ability to show maintenance 

through attaining design values). The 

rule therefore has more impact on rural 

areas than an urban environment such 

as Atlanta, where direct PM2.5 emissions 

from fires make up less than one percent 

of the total direct PM2.5 emissions from 

fires across the State.18 For these 

reasons, EPA has not relied on these 

state-only rules as a basis for proposing 

approval of the redesignation request 

and associated maintenance plan. 

Criteria (4)—The Atlanta Area Has a 

Fully Approved Maintenance Plan 

Pursuant to Section 175A of the CAA 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the area has a 

fully approved maintenance plan 

pursuant to section 175A of the CAA 

(CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(iv)). In 

conjunction with its request to 

redesignate the Atlanta Area to 

attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS, GA EPD submitted a SIP 

revision to provide for the maintenance 

of the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS for at 

least 10 years after the effective date of 

redesignation to attainment. EPA 

believes that this maintenance plan 

meets the requirements for approval 

under section 175A of the CAA for the 

reasons discussed below. 

a. What is required in a maintenance 

plan? 

Section 175A of the CAA sets forth 

the elements of a maintenance plan for 

areas seeking redesignation from 

nonattainment to attainment. Under 

section 175A, the plan must 

demonstrate continued attainment of 

the applicable NAAQS for at least 10 

years after the Administrator approves a 

redesignation to attainment. Eight years 

after the redesignation, GA EPD must 

submit a revised maintenance plan 

which demonstrates that attainment will 

continue to be maintained for the 10 

years following the initial 10-year 

period. To address the possibility of 

future NAAQS violations, the 

maintenance plan must contain such 

contingency measures, as EPA deems 

necessary, to assure prompt correction 

of any future 1997 Annual PM2.5

violations. The Calcagni Memorandum 

provides further guidance on the 

content of a maintenance plan, 

explaining that a maintenance plan 

should address five requirements: The 

attainment emissions inventory, 

maintenance demonstration, 

monitoring, verification of continued 

attainment, and a contingency plan. As 

is discussed below, EPA proposes to 

find that GA EPD’s maintenance plan 

includes all the necessary components 

and is thus proposing to approve it as 

a revision to the Georgia SIP. 

b. Attainment Emissions Inventory 

As noted earlier, EPA has previously 

determined that the Atlanta Area 

attained the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS 

based on monitoring data for the 3-year 

period from 2008–2010. Today, EPA is 

proposing to determine that the Atlanta 

Area has continued to attain the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS up to the most 

recent 3-year period quality-assured 

monitoring data, 2012–2014. In its 

maintenance plan, the State selected 

2008 as the attainment emission 

inventory year. The attainment 

inventory identifies a level of emissions 

in the Area that is sufficient to attain the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. GA EPD 

began development of the attainment 

inventory by first generating a baseline 

emissions inventory for the Atlanta 

Area. As noted above, the year 2008 was 

chosen as the base year for developing 

a comprehensive emissions inventory 

for direct PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursors 

SO2 and NOX. To support maintenance 

through 2024, Georgia prepared 

emissions projections for the years 2014, 

2017, 2020, and 2024. 

The emissions inventories are 

composed of four major types of 

sources: Point, area, on-road mobile, 

and non-road mobile. With the 

exception of on-road emissions, Georgia 

obtained the 2008 base-year emissions 

inventory from the National Emissions 

Inventory 2008 Version 1.5 (http://

www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/net/

2008inventory.html). Georgia used 

EPA’s MOVES2010a mobile source 

emissions model to generate 2008 onroad mobile source emissions. The 2008 

actual SO2, NOX, and PM2.5 emissions 

for the Atlanta Area, as well as the 

emissions projections through 2024, 

were developed consistent with EPA 

guidance and are summarized in Tables 

3.1 and 4 through 7.1 of the following 

subsection discussing the maintenance 

demonstration. 

Section 175A requires a state seeking 

redesignation to attainment to submit a 

SIP revision to provide for the 

maintenance of the NAAQS in the Area 

‘‘for at least 10 years after the 

redesignation.’’ EPA has interpreted this 

as a showing of maintenance ‘‘for a 

period of ten years following 

redesignation.’’ Calcagni Memorandum, 

p. 9. Where the emissions inventory 

method of showing maintenance is 

used, the purpose is to show that 

emissions during the maintenance 

period will not increase over the 

attainment year inventory. Calcagni 

Memorandum, pp. 9–10. 

As discussed in detail below, 

Georgia’s maintenance plan submission 

expressly documents that the Area’s 

overall emissions inventories will 

remain well below the attainment year 

inventories through 2024. Although the 

State’s maintenance demonstration 

includes projected emissions reductions 

from Georgia Rules (sss) and (uuu), EPA 

believes the plan still demonstrates 

maintenance as discussed in the 

following subsection. 


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19Although, as discussed above, the NOX

emission reductions associated with Rule (sss) are 

permanent and enforceable through CSAPR, EPA 

recalculated the projected point source emissions 

without anticipated Rule (sss) NOX reductions to 

generate a conservative maintenance 

demonstration. 20 Georgia Power retired Plant Branch Unit 2 in 

September 2013; retired Plant Branch Units 1, 3, 

and 4 and Plant Yates Units 1–5 in April 2015; and 

converted Plant Yates Units 6 and 7 from coal to 

natural gas in May 2015. Georgia Power certified 

under penalty of law that the retirements are 

permanent in Retired Unit Exemption (RUE) forms 

submitted to EPA under the Acid Rain, CAIR, and 

CSAPR programs. The Plant Yates retirements and 

conversions occurred through a Title V permit 

amendment effective on August 29, 2014. Yates 

Steam-Electric Generating Plant Part 70 Operating 

Permit Amendment No. 4911–077–0001–V–03–5. 

This Title V permit amendment and the RUE forms 

discussed above are included in the docket. 

21EPA estimated the emissions reductions 

associated with Rules (sss) and (uuu) and with the 

shutdowns and conversions to natural gas using 

emissions projections provided by GA EPD on 

November 13, 2015. These projections are included 

in the docket for today’s action. 

. 

In addition, for the reasons set forth 

below, EPA believes that the Area will 

continue to maintain the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS at least through 2025. 

Thus, if EPA finalizes its proposed 

approval of the redesignation request 

and maintenance plans in 2015, the 

approval will be based upon this 

showing, in accordance with section 

175A, and EPA’s analysis described 

herein, that the State’s maintenance 

plan provides for maintenance for at 

least ten years after redesignation. 

c. Maintenance Demonstration 

The August 30, 2012, submittal 

includes a maintenance demonstration 

for the Atlanta Area through 2024. This 

demonstration uses 2008 as the 

attainment year; identifies 2024 as the 

‘‘out year;’’ and includes future 

emission inventory projections for 

point, area, on-road mobile, and nonroad mobile sources in the Atlanta Area 

for 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2024 (see 

Tables 3–7, below). The emissions 

projections for 2014 and 2020 provide 

reference points for periodic assessment 

of maintenance of the NAAQS and were 

estimated using 2008 actuals and 2017 

and 2024 projections. Appendix C of 

Georgia’s 2012 submittal describes the 

methodology used by the State to 

prepare the actual and projected 

emissions inventories. 

The future emissions inventory 

projections in the State’s maintenance 

demonstration include reductions from 

the implementation of Georgia Rules 

(sss) and (uuu). However, as discussed 

above, these two State rules are not 

permanent and enforceable measures for 

the purposes of redesignation. EPA 

therefore recalculated the projected 

2014, 2017, 2020, and 2024 point source 

emissions in the Atlanta Area by 

removing projected Rule (sss) and Rule 

(uuu) NOX, SO2, and PM2.5 emissions 

reductions 19 and replacing these 

reductions with only those NOX, SO2, 

and PM2.5 reductions from permanent 

and enforceable shutdowns at Plant 

Branch Units 1 through 4 and Plant 

Yates Units 1 through 5 and from 

permanent and enforceable conversions 

from coal to natural gas at Plant Yates 

Units 6 and 7.20 Georgia did not 

incorporate the emissions reductions 

resulting from these shutdowns and 

conversions in its maintenance 

demonstration because they were not 

anticipated by the State at the time of its 

2012 submittal. 

EPA removed the emissions 

reductions attributed to Georgia Rules 

(sss) and (uuu) from the State’s 

emissions projections by assuming that 

NOX, SO2, and PM2.5 emissions from 

EGUs in the Atlanta Area were not 

reduced through Rules (sss) and (uuu) 

after 2008 and added the reductions 

from the aforementioned shutdowns 

and conversions.21 Table 2.1 identifies 

the EGU emissions included in the 

State’s maintenance demonstration, and 

Table 2.2 identifies the EGU emissions 

included in EPA’s recalculated point 

source emission projections for the 

Atlanta Area. 

TABLE 2.1—EGU EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 410,496 169,176 48,516 49,781 50,413 

NOX ...................................................................................... 76,178 40,535 22,713 23,372 23,702 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 4,938 3,760 3,171 3,296 3,358 

TABLE 2.2—EGU EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA, REVISED TO INCLUDE ONLY

EGU SHUTDOWNS AND NATURAL GAS CONVERSIONS

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 410,496 294,859 237,040 243,210 246,294 

NOX ...................................................................................... 76,177 58,173 49,171 50,519 51,193 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 4,937 4,724 4,618 4,781 4,862 

Table 3.1 shows the 2008 actual point 

source emissions and the projected 

future year point source emissions in 

the Atlanta Area provided by the State 

in its 2012 submittal. Table 3.2 shows 

the 2008 actual point source emissions 

and projected future year point source 

emissions using EPA’s EGU projections 

shown in Table 2.2, above. 

TABLE 3.1—POINT SOURCE EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 413,478 172,170 51,697 52,601 53,803 

NOX ...................................................................................... 80,785 45,489 27,867 28,535 29,423 


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TABLE 3.1—POINT SOURCE EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA—Continued 

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 5,637 4,541 3,993 4,120 4,288 

TABLE 3.2—POINT SOURCE EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA, REVISED TO INCLUDE

ONLY EGU SHUTDOWNS AND NATURAL GAS CONVERSIONS

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 413,478 297,974 240,221 246,530 249,684 

NOX ...................................................................................... 80,785 63,145 54,325 56,051 56,914 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 5,637 5,506 5,440 5,675 5,792 

Tables 4 through 6 show the actual 

and projected non-point, on-road 

mobile, and non-road mobile source 

emissions for the Atlanta Area as 

provided in the State’s 2012 submittal. 

These emissions are not impacted by 

Rules (sss) and (uuu) because these 

rules only apply to certain EGUs. 

TABLE 4—NON-POINT SOURCE EMISSION, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 10,237 10,557 10,717 10,884 11,107 

NOX ...................................................................................... 21,193 23,531 24,698 25,916 27,537 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 35,686 40,052 42,232 44,072 46,520 

TABLE 5—ON-ROAD MOBILE SOURCE EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 725 629 581 533 469 

NOX ...................................................................................... 128,955 93,806 76,258 58,675 35,272 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 4,662 3,529 2,963 2,397 1,642 

TABLE 6—NON-ROAD EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED FOR THE ATLANTA AREA

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 1,675 1,516 1,437 1,553 1,708 

NOX ...................................................................................... 40,599 34,086 30,835 29,747 28,298 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 2,827 2,360 2,127 1,967 1,755 

Below, Table 7.1 shows the 2008 

actual emissions from all source sectors 

and the projected future year emissions 

from all source sectors in the Atlanta 

Area provided by the State. Table 7.2 

reflects EPA’s revisions to the pointsource emissions projections shown in 

Table 3.2, above. 

TABLE 7.1—ALL SECTOR EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED EMISSIONS FOR THE ATLANTA AREA

[Tons] 

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 426,115 184,873 64,433 65,572 67,088 

NOX ...................................................................................... 271,531 196,912 159,659 142,873 120,530 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 48,811 50,482 51,316 52,556 54,205 


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22The revised emission projections reflect no 

emission reductions from EGUs beyond 2008 other 

than the permanent and enforceable emission 

reductions that have occurred due to the shutdowns 

and conversions identified above. 

23As noted earlier, due to incomplete data at one 

monitoring site during the third quarter of 2012, 

EPA conducted a statistical analysis to determine a 

maximum potential design value of 11.1 mg/m3 for 

the period 2012 to 2014. The analysis is described 

in detail in the monitoring TSD included in the 

docket for this rulemaking. 

TABLE 7.2—ALL SECTOR EMISSIONS, ACTUAL (2008) AND PROJECTED EMISSIONS FOR THE ATLANTA AREA, REVISED

WITH EPA’S POINT-SOURCE EMISSIONS PROJECTIONS

[Tons] 22

Pollutant 2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

SO2 ....................................................................................... 426,115 310,677 252,957 257,248 262,969 

NOX ...................................................................................... 271,531 214,589 186,117 173,715 157,179 

PM2.5 .................................................................................... 48,811 51,446 52,763 54,299 56,348 

The results of EPA’s analysis, shown 

in Table 7.2, show that future emissions 

for NOX and SO2 are expected to be well 

below 2008 ‘‘attainment level’’ 

emissions without Georgia Rules (sss) 

and (uuu), while direct PM2.5 emissions 

are expected to increase slightly. In 

situations where local emissions are the 

primary contributor to nonattainment, 

such as the Atlanta Area, if the future 

projected emissions in the 

nonattainment area remain at or below 

the baseline emissions in the 

nonattainment area, then the ambient 

air quality standard should not be 

exceeded in the future. As explained 

below, EPA proposes to find that the 

overall emission projections illustrate 

that the Atlanta Area is expected to 

continue to attain the 1997 PM2.5

NAAQS through 2025. Moreover, as 

noted earlier, the Atlanta Area was 

identified in EPA’s federal interstate 

transport rulemakings—CAIR and 

CSAPR—as an area that was projected to 

have problems with nonattainment and 

maintenance of the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS 

due to transported pollution from other 

states. Continued implementation of 

CSAPR in the vast majority of those 

upwind states will also help the Atlanta 

Area maintain the standard. 

As shown in Table 7.2, EPA projects 

that SO2 and NOX emissions will 

decline by approximately 38 percent 

and 42 percent, respectively, from 2008 

to 2024 without Georgia Rules (sss) and 

(uuu). This decrease is due to the 

implementation of Federal controls 

during the first half of the maintenance 

period and to the permanent and 

enforceable shutdowns and conversions 

discussed above. Emissions of PM2.5 are 

expected to increase by approximately 

15.4 percent (7,537 tons) from 2008 

through 2024 due to projected increases 

in non-point source PM2.5 emissions. 

Therefore, EPA further evaluated 

whether the increase in PM2.5 emissions, 

in combination with the decreases in 

SO2 and NOX emissions, would provide 

for maintenance of the standard. 

Because the relationship between 

pollutant emissions and ambient air 

quality is different for each of the three 

pollutants, the changes in emissions for 

each pollutant must be weighted 

according to the air quality impact of 

each pollutant. To evaluate this 

relationship, the State examined 

speciation data available from the EPA 

Air Explorer Web site for 2007–2009 for 

the DeKalb County monitor (13–089– 

0002). The 3-year average of this data 

suggests that ambient PM2.5 in Atlanta 

consists of approximately 40.7 percent 

sulfate; 1.2 percent nitrate; 50.1 percent 

organic particulate matter (which 

consists of directly-emitted primary 

organic matter and atmospherically 

formed secondary organic aerosol); 4.2 

percent miscellaneous inorganic 

particulate matter; and 3.7 percent other 

types of particulate matter. Therefore, 

using a conservative assumption that all 

of the organic particulate matter is 

primary organic matter, the direct PM2.5

species make up approximately 54.3 

percent of the total ambient PM2.5. 

A conservative approach assumes the 

full ambient concentration of organic 

particulate matter plus miscellaneous 

inorganic particulate matter will vary in 

accordance with changes in total 

nonattainment area emissions of direct 

PM2.5. This analysis thus assumes that 

the component of ambient PM2.5

attributable to direct PM2.5 species will 

increase by the same percentage as the 

percentage increase in direct PM2.5

emissions projected for the Atlanta Area 

(i.e., 15.4 percent). The baseline 

concentration is conservatively assumed 

to be 15.0 mg/m3, and direct PM2.5 is 

estimated to contribute 54.3 percent, or 

8.1 mg/m3, of that baseline. Thus, a 15.4 

percent increase in the 8.1 mg/m3 of the 

direct PM2.5 component would suggest a 

resulting 1.2 mg/m3 increase in the 

ambient concentration. As discussed 

earlier, the highest 2008–2010 design 

value for the Atlanta Area was 13.6 mg/ 

m3 (with data substitution) and the 

2011–2014 design value is 11.1 mg/m3

(with data substitution). Thus, even if 

the design value were to increase by 1.2 

mg/m3, the standard of 15 mg/m3 would 

still be met. Furthermore, the projected 

increase in direct PM2.5 emissions 

(approximately 7,537 tons) will be at 

least partially, if not fully, offset by a 

significant decrease in sulfate and 

nitrate emissions, resulting in a 

continued decrease in the PM2.5 design 

values in the Atlanta Area. As shown in 

Table 7.2, EPA expects that, at a 

minimum, SO2 and NOX emissions will 

decrease by approximately 163,146 tons 

and 114,352 tons, respectively, from 

2008 through 2024. 

A maintenance plan requires the state 

to show that projected future year 

overall emissions will not exceed the 

level of emissions which led the Area to 

attain the NAAQS. For the reasons 

discussed above, EPA believes that the 

projected emissions demonstrate that 

the Atlanta Area will continue to attain 

for the duration of the maintenance 

plan. 

While GA EPD’s maintenance plan 

projects maintenance of the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS through 2024, as 

noted above, EPA believes that the 

Atlanta Area will continue to maintain 

the standard at least through the year 

2025 for several reasons: All of the 

federal regulatory requirements that 

enabled the Area to attain the NAAQS 

will continue to be in effect and 

enforceable after the 10-year 

maintenance period; the most recent 

maximum potential annual PM2.5 design 

value (for the period 2012 to 2014) for 

the Area, 11.1 mg/m3,23 is well below the 

standard of 15.0 mg/m3; and overall 

emissions are projected to decline 

significantly through 2024. Because it is 

highly improbable that emissions will 

suddenly increase after 2024 and exceed 

attainment year inventory levels in 

2025, EPA expects the projected 

downward trend in pollutant emissions 

in the Atlanta Area to continue to 

demonstrate maintenance of the 1997 

PM2.5 NAAQS through at least the year 

2025. 


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24 In a September 23, 2013, letter to EPA, the State 

clarified the timing and content of its contingency 

measures included in the maintenance plan for the 

Atlanta Area. In this letter, the State reaffirmed its 

commitment to address and correct any violation of 

the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS as expeditiously as 

practicable and to do so no later than 24 months 

from the trigger activation. 

d. Monitoring Network 

There are currently seven monitors 

measuring ambient PM2.5 in the Atlanta 

Area. GA EPD has committed to 

continue operation of the monitors in 

the Atlanta Area in compliance with 40 

CFR part 58 and have thus addressed 

the requirement for monitoring. EPA 

approved Georgia’s 2014 monitoring 

plan on November 7, 2014. 

e. Verification of Continued Attainment 

The State of Georgia, through the GA 

EPD, has the legal authority to enforce 

and implement the requirements of the 

Atlanta Area 1997 Annual PM2.5

maintenance plan. This includes the 

authority to adopt, implement, and 

enforce any subsequent emissions 

control contingency measures 

determined to be necessary to correct 

future PM2.5 attainment problems. 

GA EPD will track the progress of the 

maintenance plan by performing future 

reviews of triennial emission 

inventories for the Atlanta Area as 

required in the Air Emissions Reporting 

Rule (AERR) and Consolidated 

Emissions Reporting Rule (CERR). For 

these periodic inventories, GA EPD will 

review the assumptions made for the 

purpose of the maintenance 

demonstration concerning projected 

growth of activity levels. If any of these 

assumptions appear to have changed 

substantially, then GA EPD will reproject emissions for the Atlanta Area. 

f. Contingency Measures in the 

Maintenance Plan 

Section 175A of the CAA requires that 

a maintenance plan include such 

contingency measures as EPA deems 

necessary to assure that the state will 

promptly correct a violation of the 

NAAQS that occurs after redesignation. 

The maintenance plan should identify 

the contingency measures to be adopted, 

a schedule and procedure for adoption 

and implementation, and a time limit 

for action by the State. A state should 

also identify specific indicators to be 

used to determine when the 

contingency measures need to be 

implemented. The maintenance plan 

must include a requirement that a state 

will implement all measures with 

respect to control of the pollutant that 

were contained in the SIP before 

redesignation of the area to attainment 

in accordance with section 175A(d). 

The contingency measures included 

in Georgia’s maintenance plan for the 

Atlanta Area include a triggering 

mechanism to determine when 

contingency measures are needed and a 

process of developing and 

implementing appropriate control 

measures. GA EPD will use actual 

ambient monitoring data to determine 

whether a trigger event has occurred 

and when contingency measures should 

be implemented. Georgia’s trigger 

mechanisms include two tiers: Tier I 

and Tier II. 

A Tier I trigger is activated when any 

of the following conditions occurs: 

• The previous calendar year’s annual 

average PM2.5 concentration exceeds the 

standard by 1.5 mg/m3 or more; 

• The annual mean PM2.5

concentration in each of the previous 

two consecutive calendar years exceeds 

the NAAQS by 0.5 mg/m3 or more; 

• The total maintenance area SO2

emissions in the most recent NEI 

exceeds the corresponding attainmentyear inventory by more than 10.0 

percent; 

• The total maintenance area PM2.5

emissions in the most recent NEI exceed 

the corresponding attainment-year 

inventory by more than 30.0 percent. 

A Tier II trigger is activated when any 

violation of the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS at any federal reference method 

(FRM) monitor in the Atlanta 

maintenance area is recorded, based on 

quality-assured monitoring data. 

In the event of either a Tier I or Tier 

II trigger, GA EPD will conduct a 

comprehensive study as expeditiously 

as practicable, but no later than nine 

months after the trigger is activated. GA 

EPD will evaluate a Tier I condition, if 

it occurs, to determine the causes of the 

ambient PM2.5 or emissions inventory 

increase and to determine if a Tier II 

condition is likely to occur. GA EPD 

will evaluate a Tier I condition, if it 

occurs, to determine the cause of the 

trigger and determine if the cause(s) of 

the ambient PM2.5 increase and to 

determine if the increase is likely to 

continue. Through the comprehensive 

study, GA EPD will attempt to 

determine whether the trigger condition 

is due to local emissions, emissions 

from elsewhere, or a combination of 

these. The study will also include a 

determination regarding the emissions 

control measures that may be necessary 

to prevent or correct a violation of the 

NAAQS. 

GA EPD will implement any required 

measures as expeditiously as 

practicable, taking into consideration 

the ease of implementation and the 

technical and economic feasibility of 

selected measures. Previously adopted 

controls, which have not yet realized 

emission reductions and which are not 

relied upon in the maintenance 

demonstration, will be implemented 

within 24 months from trigger 

activation.24 If the study determines that 

such previously adopted emission 

control programs are not sufficient to 

address any violation of the NAAQS, 

EPD will adopt additional rules or 

controls to require further emission 

reductions. Any additional rules or 

controls to address a violation would be 

adopted and implemented within 24 

months of trigger activation and will be 

submitted to EPA for approval into 

Georgia’s SIP. 

In any event, if a Tier II trigger is 

activated, EPD will consult and seek 

review from EPA on the analysis to 

determine the cause of the violation. 

The contingency measure(s) will be 

selected from the following types of 

emission controls or from any other 

control deemed appropriate and 

effective at the time the selection is 

made by EPD: 

• RACM for sources of SO2 and PM2.5; 

• Reasonably Available Control 

Technologies (RACT) for point sources 

of SO2 and PM2.5; 

• Expansion of RACM/RACT to areas 

of transport within the State; 

• Mobile source measures; and 

• Additional SO2 and/or PM2.5

reduction measures yet to be identified. 

In addition to the triggers indicated 

above, Georgia will monitor regional 

emissions through the CERR and AERR 

and compare them to the projected 

inventories and the attainment year 

inventory. In the August 30, 2012, 

submittal, the State acknowledges that 

the contingency plan requires the 

implementation of all measures 

contained in the SIP for the Area prior 

to redesignation. The State also notes 

that these measures are currently in 

effect and may be evaluated by the State 

to determine if they are adequate or upto-date. 

EPA has preliminarily concluded that 

the maintenance plan adequately 

addresses the five basic components 

required: The attainment emissions 

inventory, maintenance demonstration, 

monitoring, verification of continued 

attainment, and a contingency plan. 

Therefore, the maintenance plan SIP 

revision submitted by GA EPD for the 

Atlanta Area meets the requirements of 

section 175A of the CAA and is 

approvable. 


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25Applicable requirements of the CAA that come 

due subsequent to the area’s submittal of a complete 

redesignation request remain applicable until a 

redesignation is approved, but are not required as 

a prerequisite to redesignation. Section 175A(c) of 

the CAA. 

26 Judicial review of EPA’s Classification and 

Deadlines Rule is pending in the D.C. Circuit. At 

the time of this notice, briefing and oral arguments 

in that case have concluded but a decision has not 

yet been issued by the Court. See WildEarth 

Guardians v. EPA, No. 14–1145 (D.C. Circuit, 

argued November 6, 2015). 

27PM10 refers to particles nominally 10 

micrometers in diameter or smaller. 

28 In explaining their decision, the court reasoned 

that the plain meaning of the CAA requires 

implementation of the 1997 p.m.2.5 NAAQS under 

subpart 4 because PM2.5 particles fall within the 

statutory definition of PM10 and are thus subject to 

the same statutory requirements. The EPA has 

proposed its interpretation of subpart 4 

requirements as applied to the PM2.5 NAAQS in its 

proposal rule entitled ‘‘Fine Particulate Matter 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards: State 

Implementation Plan Requirements’’ (80 FR 15340, 

March 23, 2015). 

29

30EPA’s proposed implementation rule (80 FR 

15340 (March 23, 2015)) includes, among other 

things, the Agency’s proposed interpretation of 

these moderate area requirements for purposes of 

PM2.5 NAAQS implementation. 

VI. What is the effect of the January 4, 

2013, D.C. Circuit decision regarding 

PM2.5 implementation under subpart 4? 

a. Background 

As discussed in Section II of this 

notice, the D.C. Circuit remanded the 

1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule to EPA 

on January 4, 2013, in Natural 

Resources Defense Council v. EPA, 706 

F.3d 428. The Court found that EPA 

erred in implementing the 1997 PM2.5

NAAQS pursuant to the general 

implementation provisions of subpart 1 

of part D of Title I of the CAA rather 

than the particulate matter-specific 

provisions of subpart 4 of part D of Title 

I. 

For the purposes of evaluating 

Georgia’s redesignation request for the 

Atlanta Area, to the extent that 

implementation under subpart 4 would 

impose additional requirements for 

areas designated nonattainment, EPA 

believes that those requirements are not 

‘‘applicable’’ for the purposes of CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(E), and thus EPA is not 

required to consider subpart 4 

requirements with respect to the 

redesignation of the Atlanta Area. Under 

its longstanding interpretation of the 

CAA, EPA has interpreted section 

107(d)(3)(E) to mean, as a threshold 

matter, that the part D provisions which 

are ‘‘applicable’’ and which must be 

approved in order for EPA to 

redesignate an area include only those 

which came due prior to a state’s 

submittal of a complete redesignation 

request. See ‘‘Procedures for Processing 

Requests to Redesignate Areas to 

Attainment,’’ Memorandum from John 

Calcagni, Director, Air Quality 

Management Division, September 4, 

1992 (Calcagni memorandum). See also 

‘‘State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

Requirements for Areas Submitting 

Requests for the plan and Redesignation 

to Attainment of the Ozone and Carbon 

Monoxide (CO) National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS) on or after 

November 15, 1992,’’ Memorandum 

from Michael Shapiro, Acting Assistant 

Administrator, Air and Radiation, 

September 17, 1993 (Shapiro 

memorandum); Final Redesignation of 

Detroit-Ann Arbor, (60 FR 12459, 

12465–66, March 7, 1995); Final 

Redesignation of St. Louis, Missouri, (68 

FR 25418, 25424–27, May 12, 2003); 

Sierra Club v. EPA, 375 F.3d 537, 541 

(7th Cir. 2004) (upholding EPA’s 

redesignation rulemaking applying this 

interpretation and expressly rejecting 

Sierra Club’s view that the meaning of 

‘‘applicable’’ under the statute is 

‘‘whatever should have been in the plan 

at the time of attainment rather than 

whatever actually was in already 

implemented or due at the time of 

attainment’’).25 In this case, at the time 

that Georgia submitted its redesignation 

request on August 30, 2012, 

requirements under subpart 4 were not 

due, and indeed, were not yet known to 

apply. 

On June 2, 2014, EPA published a rule 

entitled ‘‘Identification of 

Nonattainment Classification and 

Deadlines for Submission of State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) Provisions 

for the 1997 Fine Particle (PM2.5) 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS) and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS’’ 

(‘‘Classification and Deadlines Rule’’). 

79 FR 31,566.26 In that rule, the Agency 

responded to the DC Circuit’s January 

2013 decision by establishing 

classifications for PM2.5 nonattainment 

areas under subpart 4, and by 

establishing a new SIP submission date 

of December 31, 2014, for moderate area 

attainment plans and for any additional 

attainment-related or nonattainment 

new source review plans necessary for 

areas to comply with the requirements 

applicable under subpart 4. Id. at 

31,567–70. Therefore, when Georgia 

submitted its request in August 2012, 

the deadline for submitting a SIP to 

meet the Act’s subpart 4 requirements 

had not yet passed, and those 

requirements are therefore not 

applicable for purposes of evaluating 

Georgia’s request for redesignation. 

b. Subpart 4 Requirements and the 

Atlanta Area Redesignation Request 

Even though the substantive 

requirements of subpart 4 were not 

applicable requirements that Georgia 

was required to have met at the time of 

its redesignation request submission, 

EPA believes that even the imposition of 

those substantive requirements would 

not pose a bar to the redesignation of the 

Atlanta Area. The additional 

requirements found in subpart 4 are 

either designed to help an area achieve 

attainment (also known as ‘‘attainment 

planning requirements’’) or are related 

to new source permitting. None of these 

additional requirements are applicable 

for purposes of evaluating a 

redesignation from nonattainment to 

attainment under EPA’s long-standing 

interpretation of CAA section 

107(d)(3)(E)(ii) and (v). 

As background, EPA notes that 

subpart 4 incorporates components of 

subpart 1 of part D, which contains 

general air quality planning 

requirements for areas designated as 

nonattainment. See section 172(c). 

Subpart 4 itself contains specific 

planning and scheduling requirements 

for PM10 27 nonattainment areas, and 

under the Court’s January 4, 2013, 

decision in NRDC v. EPA, these same 

statutory requirements also apply for 

PM2.5 nonattainment areas.28 In the 

General Preamble, EPA’s longstanding 

general guidance interpreting the 1990 

amendments to the CAA,29 EPA 

discussed the relationship of subpart 1 

and subpart 4 SIP requirements and 

pointed out that subpart 1 requirements 

were to an extent ‘‘subsumed by, or 

integrally related to, the more specific 

PM–10 requirements.’’ See 57 FR 13538 

(April 16, 1992). The subpart 1 

requirements include, among other 

things, provisions for attainment 

demonstrations, RACM, RFP, emissions 

inventories, and contingency measures. 

As noted above, in the Classification 

and Deadlines Rule, EPA initially 

classified all areas designated 

nonattainment for either the 1997 or the 

2006 PM2.5 NAAQS as ‘‘moderate’’ 

nonattainment areas. Additional 

requirements that would apply to the 

Atlanta Area as a moderate 

nonattainment area are therefore 

Sections 189(a) and (c), including the 

following: (1) An approved permit 

program for construction of new and 

modified major stationary sources 

(section 189(a)(1)(A)); (2) an attainment 

demonstration (section 189(a)(1)(B)); (3) 

provisions for RACM (section 

189(a)(1)(C)); and (4) quantitative 

milestones demonstrating RFP toward 

attainment by the applicable attainment 

date (section 189(c)).30

The permit requirements of subpart 4, 

as contained in section 189(a)(1)(A), 


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31The potential effect of section 189(e) on section 

189(a)(1)(A) for purposes of evaluating this 

redesignation is discussed below. 

32These planning requirements include the 

attainment demonstration, quantitative milestone 

requirements, and RACM analysis. 

33The Atlanta Area has reduced VOC emissions 

through the implementation of various control 

programs including various on-road and non-road 

motor vehicle control programs. 

refer to and apply the subpart 1 permit 

provisions requirements of sections 172 

and 173 to PM10, without adding to 

them. Consequently, EPA believes that 

section 189(a)(1)(A) does not itself 

impose for redesignation purposes any 

additional requirements for moderate 

areas beyond those contained in subpart 

1.31 In any event, in the context of 

redesignation, EPA has long relied on 

the interpretation that a fully approved 

nonattainment new source review 

program is not considered an applicable 

requirement for redesignation, provided 

the area can maintain the standard with 

a PSD program after redesignation. A 

detailed rationale for this view is 

described in a memorandum from Mary 

Nichols, Assistant Administrator for Air 

and Radiation, dated October 14, 1994, 

entitled ‘‘Part D New Source Review 

Requirements for Areas Requesting 

Redesignation to Attainment.’’ See also 

rulemakings for Detroit, Michigan (60 

FR 12467–12468, March 7, 1995); 

Cleveland-Akron-Lorain, Ohio (61 FR 

20458, 20469–20470, May 7, 1996); 

Louisville, Kentucky (66 FR 53665, 

October 23, 2001); and Grand Rapids, 

Michigan (61 FR 31834–31837, June 21, 

1996). 

With respect to the specific 

attainment planning requirements under 

subpart 4,32 EPA applies the same 

interpretation that it applies to 

attainment planning requirements under 

subpart 1 or any of other pollutantspecific subparts. That is, under its 

long-standing interpretation of the CAA, 

where an area is already attaining the 

standard, EPA does not consider those 

attainment-planning requirements to be 

applicable for purposes of evaluating a 

request for redesignation because 

requirements that are designed to help 

an area achieve attainment no longer 

have meaning where an area is already 

meeting the standard. 

Thus, at the time of Georgia’s 

submission of its redesignation request, 

the requirement for the Atlanta Area to 

comply with subpart 4 had not yet come 

due and was, therefore, not applicable 

for purposes of EPA’s evaluation of the 

redesignation. Moreover, even if Georgia 

had been required to comply with those 

subpart 4 requirements, the additional 

substantive requirements for a moderate 

nonattainment area under subpart 4 

were not applicable for purposes of 

redesignation anyway, given EPA’s 

long-standing interpretation of the 

applicability of certain requirements to 

areas that are attaining the NAAQS. 

c. Subpart 4 and Control of PM2.5

Precursors 

As noted previously, EPA does not 

believe that the requirement to comply 

with subpart 4 applied to the Atlanta 

Area redesignation request because that 

request was submitted prior to the 

moderate area SIP submission date of 

December 31, 2014. However, even if 

the requirements of subpart 4 were to 

apply to the Atlanta Area, EPA 

nevertheless believes that the additional 

requirements of subpart 4 would not 

pose an obstacle to our approval of 

Georgia’s request to redesignate the 

Atlanta Area. Specifically, EPA 

proposes to determine that, because the 

Atlanta Area is attaining the standard, 

no additional controls of any PM2.5

precursors would be required. Under 

either subpart 1 or subpart 4, for 

purposes of demonstrating attainment as 

expeditiously as practicable, a state is 

required to evaluate all economically 

and technologically feasible control 

measures for direct PM emissions and 

precursor emissions, and adopt those 

measures that are deemed reasonably 

available. Relevant precursors to PM2.5

pollution include SO2, NOx, VOC and 

ammonia. Moreover, CAA section 189(e) 

in subpart 4 specifically provides that 

control requirements for major 

stationary sources of direct PM10 shall 

also apply to PM10 precursors from 

those sources, except where EPA 

determines that major stationary sources 

of such precursors ‘‘do not contribute 

significantly to PM10 levels which 

exceed the standard in the area.’’ 

Under subpart 1 and EPA’s prior 

implementation rule, all major 

stationary sources of PM2.5 precursors 

were subject to regulation, with the 

exception of ammonia and VOC. Thus, 

assuming subpart 4 requirements are 

applicable for purposes of evaluating 

this redesignation request, EPA is 

analyzing here whether additional 

controls of ammonia and VOC from 

major stationary sources are required 

under section 189(e) of subpart 4 in 

order to redesignate the area for the 

1997 PM2.5 standard. As explained 

below, EPA does not believe that any 

additional controls of ammonia and 

VOC are required in the context of this 

redesignation. 

In the General Preamble, EPA 

discusses its approach to implementing 

section 189(e). See 57 FR 13538 (April 

16, 1992). With regard to precursor 

regulation under section 189(e), the 

General Preamble explicitly stated that 

control of VOCs under other Act 

requirements may suffice to relieve a 

state from the need to adopt precursor 

controls under section 189(e). See 57 FR 

13542. EPA in this rulemaking proposes 

to determine that even if not explicitly 

addressed by the State in its submission, 

the State does not need to take further 

action with respect to ammonia and 

VOCs as precursors to satisfy the 

requirements of section 189(e). This 

proposed determination is based on our 

findings that: (1) The Atlanta Area 

contains only one major stationary 

source of ammonia (Owens Corning, 

Fairburn Plant), and (2) existing major 

stationary sources of VOC are 

adequately controlled under other 

provisions of the CAA regulating the 

ozone NAAQS.33 In the alternative, EPA 

proposes to determine that, under the 

express exception provisions of section 

189(e), and in the context of the 

redesignation of the Area, which is 

attaining the 1997 Annual PM2.5

standard, at present ammonia and VOC 

precursors from major stationary 

sources do not contribute significantly 

to levels exceeding the 1997 PM2.5

standard in the Atlanta Area. See 57 FR 

13539. 

As noted earlier, EPA determined in 

December 2011 that the Atlanta Area 

was attaining the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS and that the Area had attained 

the NAAQS by the applicable 

attainment date of April 5, 2010. 76 FR 

76620. Under EPA’s regulations, a 

determination of attainment, also 

known as a clean data determination, 

suspends the CAA’s requirements to 

submit an attainment demonstration, 

including an analysis of reasonably 

available control measures and control 

technology; reasonable further progress; 

and contingency measures. Under 

subpart 4, Georgia’s plan for attaining 

the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS in the Atlanta 

Area would have had to consider all 

PM2.5 precursors, including VOC and 

ammonia, and whether there were 

control measures, including for existing 

sources under section 189(e), available 

that would have advanced the area’s 

attainment goals. However, because the 

Atlanta Area has already attained the 

1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, the state’s 

requirement to submit a plan 

demonstrating how the area would 

attain has been suspended, and, 

moreover, the area has shown that it has 

attained with its current approach to 

regulation of PM2.5 precursors. 

Therefore, EPA believes that it is 

reasonable to conclude in the context of 

this redesignation that there is no need 


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34These emissions estimates were taken from the 

emissions inventories developed for the regulatory 

impact analysis for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS. 

to revisit the attainment control strategy 

with respect to the treatment of 

precursors. In addition, as noted below, 

EPA has analyzed projections of VOC 

and ammonia emissions in the area and 

has determined that VOC emissions are 

projected to decrease sharply over the 

maintenance period and ammonia 

emissions, which are emitted in 

marginal amounts in the Atlanta area, 

are projected to increase only slightly. 

Accordingly, EPA does not view the 

January 4, 2013, decision of the Court as 

precluding redesignation of the Atlanta 

Area to attainment for the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS. In sum, even if Georgia 

were required to address precursors for 

the Atlanta Area under subpart 4 rather 

than under subpart 1, EPA would still 

conclude that the area had met all 

applicable requirements for purposes of 

redesignation in accordance with 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii) and (v). 

d. Maintenance Plan and Evaluation of 

Precursors 

EPA proposes to determine that the 

State’s maintenance plan shows 

continued maintenance of the standard 

by tracking the levels of the precursors 

whose control brought about attainment 

of the 1997 PM2.5 standard in the 

Atlanta Area. EPA therefore believes 

that the only additional consideration 

related to the maintenance plan 

requirements that results from the 

Court’s January 4, 2013, decision is that 

of assessing the potential role of VOC 

and ammonia in demonstrating 

continued maintenance in this Area. As 

explained below, based upon 

documentation provided by Georgia and 

supporting information, EPA believes 

that the maintenance plan for the 

Atlanta Area need not include any 

additional emission reductions of VOC 

or ammonia in order to provide for 

continued maintenance of the standard. 

First, as noted above in EPA’s 

discussion of section 189(e), VOC 

emission levels in this area have 

historically been well-controlled under 

SIP requirements related to ozone and 

other pollutants. Second, total ammonia 

emissions throughout the Atlanta Area 

are projected to be approximately 

13,620 tons per year in 2020. See Table 

8 below. This amount of ammonia 

emissions is relatively low in 

comparison to the total amounts of SO2,

NOX, and even direct PM2.5 emissions 

from sources in the Area. Third, as 

described below, available information 

shows that no precursor, including VOC 

and ammonia, is expected to increase 

significantly over the maintenance 

period so as to interfere with or 

undermine the State’s maintenance 

demonstration. 

The emissions inventories used in the 

regulatory impact analysis (RIA) for the 

2012 PM2.5 NAAQS, included in the 

docket for today’s action, show that 

VOC emissions are projected to decrease 

by 52,813.38 tpy and that ammonia 

emissions are projected to increase by 

91.89 tpy in the Area between 2007 and 

2020. See Table 8, below. Thus, 

emissions of VOC are projected to 

decrease by 30 percent, and emissions 

of ammonia are projected to remain 

about the same, increasing by less than 

one percent. 

TABLE 8—COMPARISON OF 2007 AND 2020 VOC AND AMMONIA EMISSION TOTALS BY SOURCE SECTOR (tpy) FOR THE

AREA 34

Source sector 

VOC Ammonia 

2007 2020 Net Change 2007 2020 Net Change 

Nonpoint ................................................... 76,274.51 74,736.27 ¥1,538.24 10,220.59 11,535.64 1,315.05 

Non-road .................................................. 28,433.41 16,376.46 ¥12,056.95 31.17 38.96 7.79 

Onroad ..................................................... 64,157.97 25,202.79 ¥38,955.18 2,587.41 1,570.67 ¥1,016.74 

Point ......................................................... 6,639.28 6,376.27 ¥263.01 689.03 474.82 ¥214.21 

Total .................................................. 175,505.17 122,691.79 ¥52,813.38 13,528.20 13,620.09 91.89 

While the RIA emissions inventories 

are only projected out to 2020, there is 

no reason to believe that this overall 

downward trend would not continue 

through 2025. Given that the Atlanta 

Area is already attaining the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS even with the 

current level of emissions from sources 

in the Area, the overall trend of 

emissions inventories is consistent with 

continued attainment. 

In addition, available air quality data 

and modeling analyses show continued 

maintenance of the standard during the 

maintenance period. As noted in section 

V, above, the Atlanta Area recorded a 

maximum potential annual PM2.5 design 

value of 11.1 mg/m3 during 2012–2014, 

the most recent three years available 

with quality-assured and certified 

ambient air monitoring data. This is 

well below the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS of 15 mg/m3. Moreover, the 

modeling analysis conducted for the 

RIA for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS 

indicates that the design value for this 

area is expected to continue to decline 

through 2020. In the RIA analysis, the 

2020 modeled design value for the 

Atlanta Area is 9.4 mg/m3. Given the 

decrease in overall precursor emissions 

projected through 2024, and expected 

through 2025, it is reasonable to 

conclude that the monitored PM2.5

concentration in this area will also 

continue to decrease through 2025. 

Thus, EPA believes that there is 

ample justification to conclude that the 

Atlanta Area should be redesignated, 

even taking into consideration the 

emissions of VOC and ammonia 

potentially relevant to PM2.5. After 

consideration of the DC Circuit’s 

January 4, 2013, decision, and for the 

reasons set forth in this notice, EPA 

continues to propose approval of the 

State’s maintenance plan and its request 

to redesignate the Atlanta Area to 

attainment for the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS. 

VII. What is EPA’s Analysis of 

Georgia’s Proposed NOX and PM2.5

MVEBs for the Atlanta Area? 

Under section 176(c) of the CAA, new 

transportation plans, programs, and 

projects, such as the construction of 

new highways, must ‘‘conform’’ to (i.e., 

be consistent with) the part of the state’s 

air quality plan that addresses pollution 

from cars and trucks. Conformity to the 

SIP means that transportation activities 

will not cause new air quality 

violations, worsen existing violations, or 

delay timely attainment of the NAAQS 

or any interim milestones. If a 


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35The difference between the 2024 NOX

emissions projected by EPA and 2008 actual NOX

emissions (i.e., NOX safety margin) is approximately 

114,352 tons. 

transportation plan does not conform, 

most new projects that would expand 

the capacity of roadways cannot go 

forward. Regulations at 40 CFR part 93 

set forth EPA policy, criteria, and 

procedures for demonstrating and 

assuring conformity of such 

transportation activities to a SIP. The 

regional emissions analysis is one, but 

not the only, requirement for 

implementing transportation 

conformity. Transportation conformity 

is a requirement for nonattainment and 

maintenance areas. Maintenance areas 

are areas that were previously 

nonattainment for a particular NAAQS 

but have since been redesignated to 

attainment with an approved 

maintenance plan for that NAAQS. 

Under the CAA, states are required to 

submit, at various times, control strategy 

SIPs and maintenance plans for 

nonattainment areas. These control 

strategy SIPs (including RFP and 

attainment demonstration) and 

maintenance plans create MVEBs for 

criteria pollutants and/or their 

precursors to address pollution from 

cars and trucks. Per 40 CFR part 93, a 

MVEB must be established for the last 

year of the maintenance plan. A state 

may adopt MVEBs for other years as 

well. A MVEB is the portion of the total 

allowable emissions in the maintenance 

demonstration that is allocated to 

highway and transit vehicle use and 

emissions. See 40 CFR 93.101. The 

MVEBs serve as a ceiling on emissions 

from an area’s planned transportation 

system. The MVEBs concept is further 

explained in the preamble to the 

November 24, 1993, Transportation 

Conformity Rule. See 58 FR 62188. The 

preamble also describes how to 

establish the MVEBs in the SIP and how 

to revise the MVEBs. 

After interagency consultation with 

the transportation partners for the 

Atlanta Area, Georgia has elected to 

develop MVEBs for NOX and PM2.5 for 

the entire Area. Georgia has developed 

these MVEBs, as required, for the last 

year of its maintenance plan, 2024. The 

NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs were developed 

in consultation with the transportation 

partners and were added to account for 

uncertainties in population growth, 

changes in model vehicle miles traveled 

and new emission factor models. 

Further details are provided below to 

explain how the MVEBs for 2024 were 

derived. 

The State estimated the worst case 

daily motor vehicle projections for NOX

and PM2.5 in 2024 and set the MVEBs 

at this level. The worst-case daily motor 

vehicle emissions projection for PM2.5 is 

2,281 tons (38.9 percent above the 

projected 2024 on-road emissions), and 

the worst-case daily motor vehicle 

emissions projection for NOX is 44,430 

tons (26 percent above the projected 

2024 on-road emissions). The proposed 

NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs for the Atlanta 

Area are identified in Table 9, below. 

On-road emissions of SO2 are 

considered de minimis; therefore, no 

budget for SO2 is required. See 70 FR 

24280, 24283 (May 6, 2005). 

TABLE 9—PROPOSED ATLANTA AREA

NOX AND PM2.5 MVEBS

[tpy] 

NOX PM2.5

2024 On-Road Mobile 

Emissions ...................... 35,272 1,642 

2024 Safety Margin Allocated ............................. 9,158 ............

2024 Total Motor Vehicle 

Budget ........................... 44,430 2,281 

The 9,158 ton difference in the NOX

projections is well within the NOX

‘‘safety margin.’’ 35 Under 40 CFR 

93.101, the term ‘‘safety margin’’ is the 

difference between the attainment level 

(from all sources) and the projected 

level of emissions (from all sources) in 

the maintenance plan. The safety 

margin can be allocated to the 

transportation sector; however, the total 

emissions must remain below the 

attainment level. 

Although there is no apparent safety 

margin for PM2.5 because overall 

emissions of direct PM2.5 from all source 

categories are projected to increase by 

approximately 15 percent from 2008 to 

2024 (see Table 7.2), the on-road mobile 

NOX and PM2.5 emissions are projected 

to decrease by approximately 72 percent 

and 65 percent, respectively (see Table 

5) due to the federal mobile source 

measures discussed in Section V. Table 

10, below, shows that the percentage of 

the PM2.5 on-road mobile source 

emissions as compared to the overall 

PM2.5 emissions from all sectors trends 

downward from 9.6 percent in 2008 to 

3.0 percent in 2024. 

TABLE 10—PM2.5 ON-ROAD MOBILE SOURCES EMISSIONS COMPARISON TO THE TOTAL PM2.5 EMISSIONS FROM ALL

SECTORS FOR THE ATLANTA AREA

[Tons per year] 

2008 2014 2017 2020 2024 

PM2.5 emissions—on-road mobile ....................................... 4,662 3,529 2,963 2,397 1,642 

Total PM2.5 emissions—all sectors ...................................... 48,811 51,256 52,478 54,285 55,188 

On-road mobile % of total PM2.5 emissions ........................ 9.6 6.9 5.7 4.4 3.0 

As discussed in Section V, EPA 

believes that Area will maintain the 

NAAQS through 2025 and that the 

impact of the projected increase in PM2.5

emissions will be overcompensated by 

the projected decreases in the emissions 

of SO2 and NOX. Furthermore, even if 

mobile source emissions are equal to the 

worst-case scenario MVEBs in 2024, the 

Atlanta Area will maintain the PM2.5

standard. Applying the projected 15 

percent increase in direct PM2.5

emissions to the proposed 2024 MVEB 

(2,281 tpy) yields a value of 2,623 tpy 

which is 44 percent less than the 2008 

attainment level of on-road mobile 

emissions (4,662 tpy). 

Through this rulemaking, EPA is 

proposing to approve the MVEBs for 

NOX and PM2.5 for 2024 for the Atlanta 

Area because EPA has determined that 

the Area maintains the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS with the emissions at the 

levels of the budgets. Once the MVEBs 

for the Atlanta Area are approved or 

found adequate (whichever is 

completed first), they must be used for 

future conformity determinations. After 

thorough review, EPA has determined 

that the budgets meet the adequacy 

criteria, as outlined in 40 CFR 

93.118(e)(4). Therefore, EPA is 

proposing to approve the budgets 

because they are consistent with 

maintenance of the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS through 2024. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules 1161 

VIII. What is the Status of EPA’s 

Adequacy Determination for the 

Proposed NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs for 

2024 for the Atlanta Area? 

When reviewing submitted ‘‘control 

strategy’’ SIPs or maintenance plans 

containing MVEB, EPA may 

affirmatively find the MVEB contained 

therein adequate for use in determining 

transportation conformity. Once EPA 

affirmatively finds the submitted MVEB 

is adequate for transportation 

conformity purposes, that MVEBs must 

be used by state and federal agencies in 

determining whether proposed 

transportation projects conform to the 

SIP as required by section 176(c) of the 

CAA. 

EPA’s substantive criteria for 

determining adequacy of MVEBs are set 

out in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). The process 

for determining adequacy consists of 

three basic steps: Public notification of 

a SIP submission, a public comment 

period, and EPA’s adequacy 

determination. This process for 

determining the adequacy of submitted 

MVEBs for transportation conformity 

purposes was initially outlined in EPA’s 

May 14, 1999, guidance entitled 

‘‘Conformity Guidance on 

Implementation of March 2, 1999, 

Conformity Court Decision.’’ EPA 

adopted regulations to codify the 

adequacy process in rulemaking entitled 

‘‘Transportation Conformity Rule 

Amendments for the New 8-Hour Ozone 

and PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards and Miscellaneous Revisions 

for Existing Areas; Transportation 

Conformity Rule Amendments: 

Response to Court Decision and 

Additional Rule Changes’’; July 1, 2004 

(69 FR 40004). Additional information 

on the adequacy process for 

transportation conformity purposes is 

available in the proposed rule entitled 

‘‘Transportation Conformity Rule 

Amendments: Response to Court 

Decision and Additional Rule Changes’’; 

June 30, 2003 (68 FR 38974, 38984). 

As discussed earlier, Georgia’s 

maintenance plan submission includes 

NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs for the Atlanta 

Area for 2024, the last year of the 

maintenance plan. EPA reviewed the 

NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs through the 

adequacy process, and the adequacy of 

the MVEBs was open for public 

comment on EPA’s adequacy Web site 

on February 21, 2013, found at: http:// 

www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/

transconf/currsips.htm. The EPA public 

comment period on adequacy for the 

MVEBs for 2024 for Atlanta Area closed 

on March 25, 2013. EPA did not receive 

any comments on the adequacy of the 

MVEBs, nor did EPA receive any 

requests for the SIP submittal. 

EPA intends to make its 

determination on the adequacy of the 

2024 MVEBs for the Atlanta Area for 

transportation conformity purposes in 

the near future by completing the 

adequacy process that was started on 

February 21, 2013. After EPA finds the 

2024 MVEBs adequate under 40 CFR 

93.118(f)(1)(iv) or takes final action to 

approve them into the Georgia SIP 

under 40 CFR 93.118(f)(2)(iii), the new 

MVEBs for NOX and PM2.5 must be used 

for future transportation conformity 

determinations. For required regional 

emissions analysis years that involve 

2024 or beyond, the applicable budgets 

will be the new 2024 MVEBs 

established in the maintenance plan. 

IX. Proposed Actions on the 

Redesignation Request and 

Maintenance Plan SIP Revisions 

Including Approval of the NOX and 

PM2.5 MVEBs for 2024 for the Atlanta 

Area 

On December 8, 2011, EPA 

determined that the Atlanta Area was 

attaining the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. See 76 

FR 76620. EPA is now proposing to take 

three separate but related actions 

regarding the redesignation and 

maintenance of the 1997 Annual PM2.5

NAAQS for the Atlanta Area. 

First, EPA is proposing to determine, 

based upon review of quality-assured 

and certified ambient monitoring data 

for the 2008–2010 period, and review of 

data in AQS for 2011 through 2014 that 

the Atlanta Area continues to attain the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Second, 

EPA proposing to approve the 

maintenance plan for the Atlanta Area, 

including the NOX and PM2.5 MVEBs for 

2024, into the Georgia SIP (under 

section 175A). As described above, the 

maintenance plan demonstrates that the 

Area will continue to maintain the 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, and the budgets 

meet all of the adequacy criteria 

contained in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) and 

(5). Third, EPA is proposing to approve 

Georgia’s request for redesignation of 

the Atlanta Area from nonattainment to 

attainment for the 1997 p.m.2.5 NAAQS 

based upon the preliminary 

determination that the Area has met the 

requirements for redesignation under 

CAA section 107(d)(3)(E). Further, as 

part of today’s action, EPA is describing 

the status of its adequacy determination 

for the 2024 NOX and VOC MVEBs in 

accordance with 40 CFR 93.118(f)(1). 

Within 24 months from the effective 

date of EPA’s adequacy determination 

for the MVEBs or the publication date 

for the final rule for this action, 

whichever is earlier, the transportation 

partners will need to demonstrate 

conformity to the new NOX and VOC 

MVEBs pursuant to 40 CFR 93.104(e). 

If finalized, approval of Georgia’s 

redesignation request for the Atlanta 

Area would change the official 

designation of Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, 

Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, 

DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, 

Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Newton, 

Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding, Walton, 

and portions of Heard and Putnam 

Counties in Georgia, as found at 40 CFR 

part 81, from nonattainment to 

attainment for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. 

X. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, redesignation of an 

area to attainment and the 

accompanying approval of a 

maintenance plan under section 

107(d)(3)(E) are actions that affect the 

status of a geographical area and do not 

impose any additional regulatory 

requirements on sources beyond those 

imposed by state law. A redesignation to 

attainment does not in and of itself 

create any new requirements, but rather 

results in the applicability of 

requirements contained in the CAA for 

areas that have been redesignated to 

attainment. Moreover, the Administrator 

is required to approve a SIP submission 

that complies with the provisions of the 

Act and applicable Federal regulations. 

See 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 

Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, 

EPA’s role is to approve state choices, 

provided that they meet the criteria of 

the CAA. Accordingly, these proposed 

actions merely approve state law as 

meeting federal requirements and do not 

impose additional requirements beyond 

those imposed by state law. For that 

reason, these proposed actions: 

• Are not significant regulatory 

actions subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• do not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• are certified as not having a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

• do not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• do not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 


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1162 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 6 / Monday, January 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• are not economically significant 

regulatory actions based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• are not significant regulatory 

actions subject to Executive Order 

13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); 

• are not subject to requirements of 

Section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because 

application of those requirements would 

be inconsistent with the CAA; and 

• will not have disproportionate 

human health or environmental effects 

under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 

7629, February 16, 1994). 

In addition, the SIP is not approved 

to apply on any Indian reservation land 

or in any other area where EPA or an 

Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 

tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 

Indian country, the rule does not have 

tribal implications as specified by 

Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 

November 9, 2000), nor will it impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Intergovernmental 

relations, Nitrogen oxides, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

40 CFR Part 81 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: December 22, 2015. 

Heather McTeer Toney, 

Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

[FR Doc. 2015–33196 Filed 1–8–16; 8:45 am] 

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